Donna Kahn, age 12, of Fountain Valley, Calif., for her question:
HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES A HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MEMBER REPRESENT?
When the delegates from the small states insisted on equal representation for each state at the United States Constitutional Convention of 1787, a deadlock was resolved with a compromise that provided each state with two senators and representation in the House of Representatives established on the basis of the population in each state.
The Constitution of the United States gave Congress the power to decide exactly how many representatives there would be in the House of Representatives. It also spelled out a number of other requirements for the elected members: each would have to be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the United States for at least seven years and a resident of the state from which he or she is elected.
Congress must follow these steps in deciding exactly how many representatives there would be: members of the House of Representatives are to be apportioned among the states according to their population; each state must have at least one representative; and there shall not be more than one representative for every 30,000 persons.
Today there is about one representative for every 465,000 persons. When the first House of Representatives was called to order, a total of 65 members were present. Then, through the years, the number started to grow. Congress passed a law in 1929, however, that set a maximum membership of the House at 435. That number increased temporarily to 437 after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted as states in the late 1950s. But after each census is held, the U.S. Bureau of the Census reports on the number of seats each state should have, and then the seats are reapportioned. After the 1960 census, a new alignment of the House membership was made and in 1962 the number of members went back down to the maximum number of 435.
In the early days of the nation, each state could determine how/ the members of the House were to be elected, and many decided that the people of the entire state could elect the entire group in an at large election. In 1842, however, Congress passed a law that made it necessary for all states to elect their representatives from congressional districts. All districts were to be as nearly equal as possible in population.
There was much unfair activity in making some of the states' congressional district divisions through a practice called gerrymandering. In 1964, however, the Supreme Court ruled that all districts within a state must have about the same population. And the court in 1969 added the demand that the congressional districts be precisely equal. It has been called the "one man, one vote'' principle.