Should the House of Representatives Be Expanded?

• Author: Penrose, Drew Spencer
• Position: Debate

For generations now, high school students have had to memorize the same pair of stats about Congress: 100 senators and 435 members of the House of Representatives. There have always been two senators from each state, but until the 1920s, Congress increased the size of the House every decade, right after the census. The idea was to keep the chamber in sync with the country's growing population. Gradually, the House grew from its original 65 members to 435 after the 1910 census.

It hasn't changed since. In 1929, Congress passed a law setting the size of the House at 435 members. But a growing number of experts are urging lawmakers to seriously consider expanding the House again. Two political policy experts--one from an organization that advocates for electoral reforms and another from a conservative think tank-face off about whether enlarging the House of Representatives is a good idea.

YES

The House of Representatives, which is often called "the People's House," was intended by the Founders to be the closest of all the branches of government to the people who elect them. But that's not how it functions today--and that's in large part because the size of the House hasn't kept pace with our population.

In 1790, each member of Congress represented fewer than 40,000 people. Today, each member represents about 710,000 people. That's because for more than a century--since 1910--we haven't increased the size of the House. As our population has ballooned--it's now triple the number recorded in the 1910 census--representatives have grown further and further away from ordinary people. We need to fix this.

A larger House would mean each member has fewer constituents, and that would mean that members are more in touch with those they represent and better able to serve their needs in Washington. Representatives with fewer constituents already tend to have higher approval ratings and be seen as more in touch with voter concerns than those with bigger districts. This is important to boost confidence in our government at a time when many Americans have lost faith in it.

A larger House would also facilitate other reforms. It would make it less expensive to run for office, because candidates would have smaller districts. And having more representatives could also make it easier to draw districts that ensure minority representation more fairly.

Some people worry that a larger House would make it harder for Congress to function. But Congress already does most...