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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
Based on demopraphia.com Manhattan is 69,873 pop/sq mi., so NYC would generally always have a leg up on all legislation. As would LA, SF, Houston, and Seattle. The people in Utah, Nevada, or Alaska would be sorely under represented since they would barely be able to be vocal compared to other states
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Huh? Are the people in Utah, Nevada or Alaska individually more important than the people in Manhattan?
Just because you can paint them with a brush of "being from Manhattan", doesn't mean that they each aren't individually as important as each Alaskan.
With 1 rep per 50,000, each demographic sub-region of Manhattan would have it's own say. As would each 50,000 people in Alaska.
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A benefit of a 6000 person house is that they could actually have time to read some of their bills that they pass.
(Not all of them -- but some of them)
You could even have a system whereby you need to be sponsored by, say, 10 or 20 congresscritters to be allowed on the floor of the house, and then you'd vote withe power of everyone who sponsored you. A simple change that keeps the population of the house fixed, while increasing the size of congress. (This should be well within the power of congress itself to determine).
Smaller sized districts also generates a "pseudo-rep-by-pop" effect, better than huge districts. If you can lobby a mere 30,000 people to agree with you you can get a single vote in the house.
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Originally Posted by dc_dux
Many here support a multi-party legislature. I am one of those who doesnt. I dont want small, extremists or single issue parties being in the bargaining position of deciding legislative outcomes.
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Those same single-issue people do have the power to decide policy issues.
On the other hand, I don't agree with JEQuidam. Such a change at this point would be disasterous, simply due to the raw magnitude of the change.
PS: It is considered good form here to quote external links "in-line", and to cite external links to a limited extent that is required by the discussion.