1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Represenation in Congress

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by Salty, Jul 16, 2009.

Top Posters
  1. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
    Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2003
    Messages:
    38,982
    Likes Received:
    2,615
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Currently, the Constitution allows for a certain number of Congressman per State or Commonwealth based on population.

    When I resided in the State of West Virginia, there were 4 Congressman and of course 2 Senators. All six were Democrats. In essence the Republicans had no representation.

    Suppose, representation was based on political representation. Under this plan, a small party, such as the Constitution Party, may actually have the opportunity to have a seat in Congress.

    Suppose, we raise the House to 500 members (remember, the Constitution originally called for 1 rep per 30,000 residents). Also change the law so only registered voters would be counted.

    Lets assume now there are 100 million registered voters - divided by 500 members = 1 rep per 200,000 voters.

    So any political party that had 200,000 voters basically would be guaranteed at least 1 seat in Congress.

    Thoughts?

    Salty
     
    #1 Salty, Jul 16, 2009
  2. Crabtownboy

    Crabtownboy Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2008
    Messages:
    18,441
    Likes Received:
    259
    Faith:
    Baptist
    There are governments where the legislature is made up of many parties. The number of representatives is determined by the percentage of the total vote a particular party receives. So, if the Constitution Party received 5% of the votes they would have 5% of the representatives. There you are voting more for the party than for a particular person. At least that is my understanding.
     
    #2 Crabtownboy, Jul 16, 2009
  3. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
    Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2003
    Messages:
    38,982
    Likes Received:
    2,615
    Faith:
    Baptist
    So do you think this is a good ideal?
     
    #3 Salty, Jul 16, 2009
  4. Crabtownboy

    Crabtownboy Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2008
    Messages:
    18,441
    Likes Received:
    259
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Which side of this question do you want me to argue. I can see benefits and problems either way. For instance, do we want umteen parties like we see in Italy and some other countries. Also, we probably would have to move to a parlimentary form of government to make it work. Again, I can see advantages and disadvantages either way. I have been thinking this issue over for a number of years and have not come down firmly on either side as of yet.
     
    #4 Crabtownboy, Jul 16, 2009
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Loading...