SECTION I:COMPARATIVE REPRESENTATION
IN CURRENT DEMOCRACIES
One of the key arguments against increasing the size of the House is the concern that it will make it too difficult for the House to conduct business and keep order. For who? It’s a lot easier to keep two political parties ‘in order’ than three, or more parties. I interpret that as ‘more than two parties would create havoc for ‘we the two parties.’’
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Proof is the lack of the development of any significant third parties, except for the Reform Party candidate Ross Perot gaining 18.9% of the popular vote in 1992. (I voted for him)
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As we witnessed in this 2024 election Billionaires are the Representatives
In the United States of America our current representation averages one House member for every 760,000 people. In 1910, which is when the House first reached 435 members, the population was 92 million people and there was one Member per every 211,494 persons . When the Constitution was first ratified it averaged one member for every 60,450 people. There were 65 members representing 3.9 million people in 13 states.
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As a couple examples, the United Kingdom has 650 members in its lower chamber with a population of 68.4 million, which is 1 Representative for every 98,066 persons. Germany has 735 Representatives with a population of 84.5 million, which is 1 Representative for every 115,112 persons.
(CONTINUED FROM HOME PAGE)
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Below is a list of countries that use a bi-cameral form of government and therefore has a ‘lower house’. The list shows the number of representatives, how many people each elected member represents and the total population of each country.
Country Number of Reps per Total
Representatives # of People Population
United Kingdom 650 98,066 68.4 Million
France 577 112,342 68.2 Million
Germany 735 115,112 84.5 Million
Japan 465 271,938 124.5 Million
Italy 400 147,575 59.0 Million
Canada 343 107,848 37.0 Million
Switzerland 200 40,308 8.1 Million
Ireland 160 30,861 5.0 Million
India 543 2.6 Million 1.5 Billion
Pakistan 342 573,609 196.2 Million
Brazil 513 409,644 210.2 Million
Mexico 500 240,573 128.5 Million
United States 435 760,000 336.0 Million
PROJECT 1305 1,305 257,471 336.0 Million
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legislatures_by_number_of_members#See_also
Excluding India, the United States clearly has the least amount of representation of its people.