Why are there only 435 Representatives in the House?
The Constitution states that districts are to be no larger than 30,000.
Based on the population as of the 2010 census and the Constitution there should be approximately 10,292 districts (308,745,538/30,000).
The Permanent Appointment Act of 1929 froze the number of Representatives at 435. That makes the average district about 748,800 people.
The thinking behind the PAA was that the population was growing disproportionately in urban areas and thus rural areas would be lacking in representation.
Although this argument makes sense, my analysis shows there would be no appreciable change in the voting weight of each state if the number of representative districts was allowed to increase to conform with the Constitution.
The urban vs. rural argument may have been valid in the 1920s, and it may be again, however it does not seem to matter currently, in fact some of the more populace states would see a decrease in voting power of up to 0.20%.
In the modern world, if we did the 30K district size limit that would almost certainly guarantee virtual legislation unless we were to hold Congress in the Superdome.
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