Volume
70
Abstract
Since the approval of the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives has been capped at 435. While the “People’s House” has seen no growth since 1929, the United States population has nearly tripled since that time to 332 million people in 2022. Without additional representatives to accommodate this larger population, Americans have diluted voting power, representatives are more distant from the constituents they supposedly represent, partisanship stonewalls any productive legislation from being passed, an imbalanced Electoral College clouds the will of the people in selecting their president, and a lack of stable congressional districts allows for more opportunities for political parties to gerrymander districts in their favor.
This Note seeks to rectify these issues through a “Cube Root Amendment” to the Constitution. This Amendment would calculate the number of representatives in the House according to the cube root of the United States population. An additional provision adds districting language to force the courts to listen to constitutional claims about gerrymandering. This Note will demonstrate that the Amendment will result in more equitable representation, improve a currently flawed Electoral College scheme, and aid in fighting against gerrymandered districts.
Recommended Citation
Michael DiDomenico,
Returning the House of Representatives to the People: An Apportionment Amendment Proposal Advocating for the Cube Root Rule,
70 Clev. St. L. Rev. Et Cetera
51
(2022)
available at https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etcetera/vol70/iss1/3