One way to reform the House of Representatives? Expand it

In 2008, political scientist Brian Frederick found that — even given the relative uniformity of House districts — the smaller the district size, the more likely citizens were to have contact with their representatives and reach out to them for help, to think their representatives did a good job keeping in touch with the district, and to approve of their representative.

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As former tea party Republican congressman Keith Rothfus put it recently, as “the number of people represented by a single member increases, each American’s voice in government grows smaller. Expanding the House would amplify those voices in our national government, thereby returning a greater measure of sovereignty to the people.”

More House members representing a finer-grained political diversity could also make meaningful intraparty factions more likely, and with them a greater possibility of legislative bargaining and accommodation across party lines.

Of course, any expansion would need to recognize that the House is intended to enable face-to-face bargaining, so it can only grow so large. How large? A group of scholars — including the two of us — convened by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences recently considered several options. In a new report, we recommend adding 150 seats, taking the House to 585 members.

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