2 ms·

The last point is what they mean. The Senate causes a number of problems with it's setup. But even the House and how small it is causes further problems. The nu

by pixl97 7mo ago

The last point is what they mean. The Senate causes a number of problems with it's setup. But even the House and how small it is causes further problems. The number of reps there needs to go up by many many times.

kelseyfrog 7mo ago
To add, there are many proposals[1] for Senate[2] reform[3]. Even a cursory glance reveals[4] an abundance[5] of different[6] suggestions[7]. 1. https://dc.law.utah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=ulr https://dc.law.utah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&con... 2. https://casten.house.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_constitutional_amendment.pdf https://casten.house.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_constitutional... 3. https://democracybillofrights.org/how-and-why-to-reform-the-senate/ https://democracybillofrights.org/how-and-why-to-reform-the-... 4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629819300083 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09626... 5. https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-introduces-package-of-legislation-to-reform-american-democracy https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-introdu... 6. https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI_Fixing-The-Senate_report-201903.pdf https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI... 7. https://electoral-reform.org.uk/when-it-comes-to-fair-votes-the-us-senate-is-ripe-for-reform/ https://electoral-reform.org.uk/when-it-comes-to-fair-votes-...
danaris 7mo ago
And that's not baked into the Constitution—it was set by law in the early 1900s, and could be changed by law. If we were to uncap the size of the House of Representatives, and instead change so that each district contains 50k people (or close to it), we would have roughly 7k representatives in the House. That would effectively eliminate the disproportionate advantage small states have there. (It would not, of course, do anything about the Senate; that would have to be addressed separately.)
- pjc50 7mo ago
  > If we were to uncap the size of the House of Representatives, and instead change so that each district contains 50k people (or close to it), we would have roughly 7k representatives in the House. Nice and proportional, but a completely unwieldy number of representatives. 700 reps for 500k people each would be more manageable. (of course, that means very little if (a) they're only from two parties and (b) all 7k districts are gerrymandered six ways from sunday)

by pixl97 7mo ago

kelseyfrog 7mo ago

To add, there are many proposals[1] for Senate[2] reform[3]. Even a cursory glance reveals[4] an abundance[5] of different[6] suggestions[7]. 1. https://dc.law.utah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=ulr https://dc.law.utah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&con... 2. https://casten.house.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_constitutional_amendment.pdf https://casten.house.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_constitutional... 3. https://democracybillofrights.org/how-and-why-to-reform-the-senate/ https://democracybillofrights.org/how-and-why-to-reform-the-... 4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629819300083 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S09626... 5. https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-introduces-package-of-legislation-to-reform-american-democracy https://casten.house.gov/media/press-releases/casten-introdu... 6. https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI_Fixing-The-Senate_report-201903.pdf https://rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RI... 7. https://electoral-reform.org.uk/when-it-comes-to-fair-votes-the-us-senate-is-ripe-for-reform/ https://electoral-reform.org.uk/when-it-comes-to-fair-votes-...

danaris 7mo ago

And that's not baked into the Constitution—it was set by law in the early 1900s, and could be changed by law. If we were to uncap the size of the House of Representatives, and instead change so that each district contains 50k people (or close to it), we would have roughly 7k representatives in the House. That would effectively eliminate the disproportionate advantage small states have there. (It would not, of course, do anything about the Senate; that would have to be addressed separately.)

pjc50 7mo ago
> If we were to uncap the size of the House of Representatives, and instead change so that each district contains 50k people (or close to it), we would have roughly 7k representatives in the House. Nice and proportional, but a completely unwieldy number of representatives. 700 reps for 500k people each would be more manageable. (of course, that means very little if (a) they're only from two parties and (b) all 7k districts are gerrymandered six ways from sunday)