The founding fathers developed an ingenious system of representative democracy. The system of government they envisioned has endured over 200 years with slight modification in the form of 27 amendments.
Few systems, if any, can last indefinitely without being redesigned or undergoing major modification no matter who designs them. Sometimes redesign is required because of lack of vision by the original designers, new requirements being realized or unforeseen growth in the number of users. The founding fathers' distilled vision seems to be valid today. The Constitution's amendment process seems to offer an appropriate means of addressing new requirements. However, lack of scalability, especially in the House of Representatives, is a threatening constraint.
James Madison's debate notes from the Federal Convention of 1787 refer to the House of Representatives as the "first branch of the National Legislature" and leave little doubt that he and others desired that this body be responsive to the people. Madison believed that without direct election of Representatives
the people would be lost sight of altogether; and the necessary sympathy between them and their rulers and officers, too little felt.
Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution creates the House of Representatives and sets the number of members rather vaguely as not exceeding
one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative
. This same section sets the initial number of representatives as follows:
New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three
The number of Representatives for each state was based on estimates of the population in each state by the convention's membership and would be static until the 1790 census was completed. Once the census was completed, the number of representatives would be determined by law at that time and by law every 10 years thereafter.
The 1790 census gave the following results:
State | Total Population | House Members | Persons/Member |
New Hampshire | 141,899 | 3 | 47,300 |
Massachusettes | 378,556 | 8 | 47,320 |
Rhode Island | 69,112 | 1 | 69,112 |
Connecticut | 237,655 | 5 | 47,531 |
New York | 340,241 | 6 | 56,507 |
New Jersey | 184,139 | 4 | 46,035 |
Pennsylvania | 433,611 | 8 | 54,201 |
Delaware | 59,096 | 1 | 59,096 |
Maryland | 319,728 | 6 | 53,288 |
Virginia | 747,550 | 10 | 74,755 |
North Carolina | 395,005 | 5 | 79,001 |
South Carolina | 249,073 | 5 | 49,815 |
Georgia | 82,548 | 3 | 27,516 |
The constitution also spells out who was to be counted in 1790.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
Clearly the total population count for 1790 includes more than the number of people eligible to vote, but probably less than the total number of persons in each state.
For the next 138 years, the number of Representatives ebbed and increased based on the decennial census. In 1929, Congress, while determining how to apportion House membership, set the number of members in the House to 435 regardless of population changes reflected in the census.
Apportionment of House seats based on the 2000 census shows that the least number of persons per Representative is 495,304 (Wyoming) and the greatest is 905,316 (Montana). The average number of persons represented based on the 2000 census is 646,952. Each member of the House represents more people than the 1790 population of any state except Virginia.
James Madison's fears have come true but for reasons he did not fathom or argue at the time. The necessary sympathy between the people and their Representatives is too little felt. As the number of people per Representative increases with the population, the average voter's feeling of inconsequence will increase.
Congress can expand the House membership by enacting legislation to do so. Based on the average number of persons per Representative from 1790, the 2000 census would require 5,140 members in the House. Several thousand members in the House would be unwieldy and chaotic, but would it be undesirable? How responsive will representation be when the population hits 500,000,000?