Simone Lawson
The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been a contentious issue since the country's founding. The Congressional Apportionment Amendment, proposed in 1789, aimed to address this issue but was never ratified. The Constitution stipulates that each state should have at least one representative and that there should be no more than one representative for every 30,000 people. However, the founders were vague about the ideal size of Congress and how to reapportion the House after each census. In 1929, the Permanent Apportionment Act fixed the number of representatives at 435, a number that has remained mostly unchanged since. With a growing population, there are now calls to increase the number of representatives to ensure faithful representation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of seats in the House of Representatives | 435 |
| First proposed | September 25, 1789 |
| Amendment ratification | Pending |
| Representation ratio | 1 representative for every 30,000 people |
| Number of citizens per congressional district in 1790 | 33,000 |
| Number of citizens per congressional district in 2018 | 700,000 |
| Number of seats proposed in 1921 | 483 |
| Number of seats in 1959-1962 | 437 |
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What You'll Learn
The US Constitution called for at least one Representative per state
The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been a contentious issue since the country's founding. The US Constitution called for at least one Representative per state, and no more than one for every 30,000 people. This was based on the Enumeration or Census mentioned in the Constitution. The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention initially set the representation ratio at one representative for every 40,000 people. However, upon the suggestion of George Washington, the ratio was changed to one representative for every 30,000 people.
The Constitution also addresses the number of seats in the House of Representatives through the Congressional Apportionment Amendment. Proposed by Congress in 1789, this amendment has never been ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures. As Congress did not set a time limit for its ratification, the amendment is still pending before the states.
Throughout the 19th century, Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth. In 1911, the number of voting House members was fixed at 435, excluding five delegates representing the District of Columbia and various territories. This number originates not with the founders, the Federalist Papers, the Constitution, or any legislative doctrine, but with the members' fatigue with expansion.
The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 capped the number of Representatives at 435, with the exception of a temporary increase to 437 from 1959 to 1962 when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union. This act was passed in response to the House's failure to reapportion itself following the 1920 Census, which was caused by a battle between rural and urban factions.
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No more than one Representative for every 30,000 people
The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been a contentious issue since the country's founding. The "No more than one Representative for every 30,000 people" rule was first proposed by James Madison in 1789 as an amendment to the United States Constitution. Known as the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, it aimed to address the ideal number of seats in the House. Madison argued that the size of the House needed to balance the body's ability to legislate with the need for legislators to understand local circumstances and sympathize with the people they represented.
The proposed amendment stated that there should be "no more than one Representative for every thirty thousand people, but each State shall have at least one Representative." This formula considered each state's population, ensuring fair representation. However, the amendment faced opposition and was never ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures, leaving the issue unresolved.
The size of the House of Representatives has fluctuated over time. Initially, the representation ratio was set at one representative for every 40,000 people, but George Washington suggested changing it to one for every 30,000. In the 19th century, Congress regularly increased the size of the House to accommodate population growth. By 1911, the number of voting House members was fixed at 435, excluding delegates from territories like American Samoa and Guam.
Despite the "no more than one Representative for every 30,000 people" principle, the current number of representatives falls far short of this ratio. With a population of over 300 million, the US House of Representatives has 435 members, resulting in a representational ratio of over 700,000 people per representative. This discrepancy has led to calls for enlarging the House to better represent the diverse population of the United States.
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The Congressional Apportionment Amendment
The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been a contentious issue since the country's founding. The Congressional Apportionment Amendment, originally titled Article the First, is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that addresses this issue. It was proposed by Congress on September 25, 1789, and was intended to establish a formula for determining the appropriate size of the House of Representatives and the apportionment of representatives among the states.
The amendment proposed that there should be one representative for every thirty thousand people, according to the Enumeration or Census mentioned in the Constitution, until the whole number of representatives reached two hundred. After that, the number could be continued or increased as directed by Congress, based on population growth. This formula aimed to balance the need for effective legislation with the representatives' closeness to the people they represent.
The "ideal" number of seats in the House of Representatives remains a subject of debate, with proposals to expand the House to better represent the growing and changing demographics of the nation. However, there has also been resistance to these expansion efforts, and the size of the House has become a "nearly sacred number" that has remained unchanged for over a century.
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The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929
The Act created a procedure for automatically reapportioning House seats after every decennial census. It established a system in which House seats would be reallocated to states that experienced shifts in population. This lack of recommendations concerning districts allowed states to draw districts of varying sizes and shapes and to elect at least some representatives at-large.
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The Hamilton/Vinton method
The Constitution does not limit the number of representatives, and this has been a contentious issue since the country's founding. Initially, the ratio was set at one representative for every 40,000 people, but George Washington suggested changing this to one for every 30,000.
Firstly, determine how many people each representative should represent by dividing the total population by the total number of representatives. This number is called the divisor. Next, divide each state's population by the divisor to get a number called the quota. Cut off the decimal parts of the quotas, and add up the remaining whole numbers. This total will be less than or equal to the total number of representatives. If it is less, assign the remaining representatives to the states with the largest decimal parts of the quota, ensuring each state ends up with at least one representative.
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Frequently asked questions
The Congressional Apportionment Amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that addresses the number of seats in the House of Representatives. It was proposed by Congress on September 25, 1789, but was never ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures.
The "ideal" number of seats in the House of Representatives has been a contentious issue since the country's founding. Initially, delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention set the representation ratio at one representative for every 40,000 people. Upon the suggestion of George Washington, the ratio was changed to one representative for every 30,000 people.
Yes, Congress regularly increased the size of the House to account for population growth throughout the 19th century. In 1921, New York Representative Isaac Siegel proposed expanding the House to 483 seats, but this was met with resistance. The number of voting House members was fixed at 435 in 1911, with the exception of a temporary increase to 437 members from 1959 to 1962 when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union.
The current number of voting representatives in the House is 435, with five additional delegates representing the District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
