In polls conducted this month the highest Congressional approval rating topped out at 29%. The YouGov poll from July 21-23 had a 10% approval rating. The highest disapproval rating came in at 80%, with every poll showing at least a 60% disapproval rating. What can be done to improve these numbers?
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the permanent size of the House of Representatives at 435 members. Based on the 1920 census that meant one seat for roughly every 241,864 people. After the 1930 Census that number jumped to 280,675. After the 2020 census that number is 761,169. Using the estimated population for today that number is 786,064. If the House of Representatives is truly supposed to be the people’s house it needs to grow in size. One person cannot come close to representing the ideas of 786,064 people. In Delaware it is currently over 1 million people represented by 1 seat.
It is time to double the size of the House of Representatives. The new number should be 871 members, double plus one to prevent ties. Under this approach every state would have at least two Congress members and Deleware would get three. Florida would jump up to 57 seats, Texas would have 77, and California would have 104 seats in a 871 seat House of Representatives.
Adding 436 seats to the House of Representatives would provide new faces to a broken system. Only robust civic engagement can lead to a change in the current version of business as usual. Doubling the size of the House of Representatives would disrupt the way the House is currently functioning. It would present the opportunity for bold new ideas. If nothing else it will require lobbyists to spend more money in attempts to subvert the will of the people. A more representative House of Representatives should be in the interest of all citizens.
On July 9, 1722 the New England Courant published a letter from Silence Dogood. The letter stated in part:
“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech; which is the Right of every Man, as far as by it, he does not hurt or controul the Right of another: And this is the only Check it ought to suffer, and the only Bounds it ought to know.
“This sacred Privilege is so essential to free Governments, that the Security of Property, and the Freedom of Speech always go together; and in those wretched Countries where a Man cannot call his Tongue his own, he can scarce call any Thing else his own.”
Silence Dogood was the pen name Benjamin Franklin used for a series of letters that he wrote. Franklin outlines the importance of freedom of speech above. If freedom of speech is curtailed it is only a matter of time before every other right will be taken as well. In the letter Franklin continued by saying:
“The best ...
