House of Representatives

The Constitution requires that states be represented in the House of Representatives in accordance with their population. It also requires that each state have at least one Representative, and that there be no more than one Representative for every 30,000 persons. For the 2010 apportionment, this could have meant a House of Representatives as small as 50 or as large as 10,306 Representatives. This book examines apportioning seats in the House of Representatives among the states in proportion to state population as required by the Constitution, which appears to be a simple task. In fact, however, the Constitution presented Congress with issues that have provoked extended and recurring debate, which are discussed in this compilation.