Before that the pretence of Representative Democracy was removed
in ther 1920s in limiting the number of Representatives of the American >>People at 435 regardless of our massive population increases.
This was done to make having to rebuild the Capitol every decade or
saw to accomodate an ever-growing House unnecessary. Had computers
been around at the time, the decision might have been different, as
another reason was the increased complexity and paperwork involved.
The /real/ problem was separating ther House from the People by
insisting that each State have at least one Representative. That,
however, would be very hard to correct.
But Biden did not run. Kamala Harris was the Democratic candidate
and started late to finish last which was not her fault at all.
Yes, the Democrats really exceeded themselves in 2024 in their
eagerness to lose.
That may well have been Joe Biden's plan. We've heard via leaks that the >Democrats wanted an open primary. Instead, after Pelosi pressured him
into resigning, Biden announced his own withdrawal and then immediately >endorsed Harris. They were kind of stuck with her after that.
On Sun, 08 Feb 2026 09:00:15 -0800, Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
Before that the pretence of Representative Democracy was removed
in ther 1920s in limiting the number of Representatives of the American
People at 435 regardless of our massive population increases.
This was done to make having to rebuild the Capitol every decade or
saw to accomodate an ever-growing House unnecessary. Had computers
been around at the time, the decision might have been different, as
another reason was the increased complexity and paperwork involved.
The /real/ problem was separating ther House from the People by
insisting that each State have at least one Representative. That,
however, would be very hard to correct.
Both the British and Canadian parliaments have been kept the same
sizes of their House of Commons and House of Lords (called the Senate
in Canada pretty much unchanged for 100+ years and manage to get by.
Britain has solved the problem by giving the MPs and Lords benches
which they have to squeeze into and they have to leave the chambers to
vote. In Ottawa they're in the midst of renovating the two chambers of Parliament currently expecting to be finished in 2031-32. A lot of
this involves laying new audio and data cables under the members'
seats.
When I first learned how the British MPs and Lords vote I thought it
couldn't work but going inside their chambers (obviously when
Parliament was not in session) was part of our 2016 tour (during the 2
week recess before the Brexit vote) and having been in both the
Commons and Lords chambers and in their voting areas I can see how
they do it.
I know I've said it before but if you're in London when the British parliament is recessed and are at all interested in politics this tour
should be very high on your wish list. (The ticket booth is at most
20' from where the subway exits reach ground level) We were lucky
enough to be there on the very last day (a Friday) before Parliament reconvened on the Monday before the Brexit vote.
(The ONLY hitch is that you're NOT allowed to sit down in the Commons
or Lords and I remember one little old lady who got a world of trouble
when she tried to sit down on the Commons benches)
10 years ago the Commons tour was 25 pounds per person while
Westminster Abbey next door was by donation. If you're in London both
are worth seeing.
On 3/15/26 21:29, The Horny Goat wrote:American
On Sun, 08 Feb 2026 09:00:15 -0800, Paul S Person
<psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
Before that the pretence of Representative Democracy was removed
in ther 1920s in limiting the number of Representatives of the
People at 435 regardless of our massive population increases.
This was done to make having to rebuild the Capitol every decade or
saw to accomodate an ever-growing House unnecessary. Had computers
been around at the time, the decision might have been different, as
another reason was the increased complexity and paperwork involved.
The /real/ problem was separating ther House from the People by
insisting that each State have at least one Representative. That,
however, would be very hard to correct.
Nonsense! Rebuilding should be done as a jobs measure and the
Capitol which it the Congressional building should be removed from DC.
To much higher ground further to the West. The Federal Government
owns lots of the nation as well so it should not be too difficult to put
the government back in the hands of the people's proportionally
elected Represenatives.
But, yes, relocating the Capital to, say, the middle of Kansas, might
help.
But redoing the Districts to be independent of the States would help
even more, by making each Representative represent much closer to the
same number of people.
In the unlikely event that the US capital were moved to Kansas, who
would tell the Kansans in the new district that they were going to lose
the vote?
If they don't lose the vote, what do the inhabitants of DC say?
When I was younger I would lecture other people in Canada on how unfair
the representation in the house of commons is, and how much better
things were done in the US. Well, at least I was half right.
In article <10p9jue$28cla$1@dont-email.me>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
In the unlikely event that the US capital were moved to Kansas, who
would tell the Kansans in the new district that they were going to lose
the vote?
If they don't lose the vote, what do the inhabitants of DC say?
Probably in such an unlikely scenario, DC is ceded back to Maryland.
There's already precedent for this.
When I was younger I would lecture other people in Canada on how unfair
the representation in the house of commons is, and how much better
things were done in the US. Well, at least I was half right.
It turns out that there is much to criticize about almost every
country's system for allocating legislative representation. Indeed
it's a whole subfield of political science.
Garrett Wollman wrote:
It turns out that there is much to criticize about almost every
country's system for allocating legislative representation. Indeed
it's a whole subfield of political science.
In our case it is a self-inflicted wound. Cannot be fixed without a time >machine.
They seem to manage this more fairly in the UK. Of the 650
constituencies, 645 have similar populations, five island constituencies >(why can't people adopt the shorter if senseless Canadian term of
"Riding"?) have smaller populations.
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