Politics with Paul #60: Would More US House Representatives Fix Congress' Problems?

The US House of Representatives has remained at 435 members for over a century, despite significant population growth. Could adding more members fix Congress' issues with responsiveness and representativeness of the American people? In today's episode, we explore that question. Included is the vision of the Framers of the Constitution for the US House, a brief history of the size of the chamber, the biggest arguments made for and against increasing its membership, why it's tricky to expand it, and the ultimate goals of advocates for expanding the US House.

Speakers

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Paul Rader

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Chapters

0:00	Intro: Expanding the US House Membership
2:12	The Purpose of the US House
4:38	How the Size of the US House has Changed Over Time
8:03	Arguments Made for Expanding the US House Membership
9:11	Support #1: More Directly Serve American People
11:49	Support #2: Smaller Geographical Boundaries
12:59	Support #3: Wider Demographic Array of Candidates
15:09	Support #4: Third Party and Nonparty Candidates Can Compete
16:27	Support #5: More Competitive Races
17:42	Support #6: Reduces Overrepresentation of Small States
19:18	Arguments Made Against Expanding US House Membership
19:40	Oppose #1: Higher Costs to Pay Congress and Their Staff
21:39	Oppose #2: Harder to Reach Majorities on Legislation
23:11	Oppose #3: Benefits Well-Resourced Interest Groups
24:12	Oppose #4: More Infrastructure Needed
26:21	Oppose #5: Dilutes Power of Rank-and-File Members
27:50	Oppose #6: Bogs Down the Process with Even More Bills
31:07	Trickiness of Getting Support for Expanding the US House
39:46	What is Expanding the US House Ultimately About?
46:11	WE Need to Make Congress More Responsive to Us, Too
49:57	Closing: My Media and My Services

Transcript

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