Permanent-Apportionment-Act-of-1929

How Your State Gets Its Seats

Congressional Apportionment

The United States Senate consists of how many members? The answer is fairly

simple: with two members apiece representing each of the ﬁfty states, the total

is one hundred. How about the House of Representatives? The answer is much

more complicated. There are currently 435 voting members of the House of

Representatives. How did this number come about and how is the number of

Representatives per state determined?

he story begins with the Constitution. The framers designed the House of Representatives

to represent the people rather than the states. Article I, Section II of the Constitution

says that each state shall have at least one U.S. Representative, while the total size of a

state’s delegation to the House depends on its population. The number of Representatives also

cannot be greater than one for every thirty thousand people. Over time, the country expanded

and the population of the nation grew. The House of Representatives mirrored this growth: the

membership of the House of Representatives increased as did the number of people represented

by each member.

Apportionment refers to the way the number of Representatives for each state is determined

every 10 years, as required by the Constitution, following a national census. The question of

apportionment has been a concern of Congress for much of our history. What size should the

House be in order to reasonably and fairly represent the people?

Beginning in 1790, after each census, Congress enacted a law that specied the changes in the actual

number of Representatives. The law also designated the increase in the ratio of Representatives to

the population. Because the House wanted a manageable number of members, Congress twice set

the size of the House at 435 voting members. The rst law to do so was passed on August 8, 1911.

President William H. Taft signed legislation increasing the membership of the House from 391 to

433. (Two more members were added when New Mexico and Arizona became states.)

However, concerns about the size of the House and disagreements between urban and rural areas

continued. As a result, the House failed to reapportion itself after the 1920 census. Finally, in 1929

the Permanent Apportionment Act became law. It permanently set the maximum number of

representatives at 435. In addition, the law determined a procedure for automatically reapportioning

House seats after each census. (Reapportionment takes effect three years after the census.) For

instance, when Alaska and Hawaii entered the union as states in 1959, the total number of

Representatives rose to 437. In 1963, after the new procedure had been used, the number of

Representatives fell to 435.

The House has only been reapportioned 21 times since 1790. The 23rd census occurred in 2010.

The subsequent reapportionment took effect beginning with the 113th Congress (2013-2015).

The 24th census will take place in 2020 and will take effect (following the required automatic

reapportionment) for the 118th Congress (2023-2025).

ESSAY

There are 435 voting members of the House of Representatives. Who are the non-voting members?

How are the duties of non-voting members different from those of voting members?

http://history.house.gov/Institution/Apportionment/Determining-Apportionment/

http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/memberfaq.aspx

What was the subject of an amendment to the Constitution that was proposed in the Bill of Rights

in 1789 and has not been ratiﬁed by the states? (Hint: “Article the Second” was ratiﬁed by enough

states to become the 27th Amendment to the Constitution in 1992.)

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc:@ﬁeld(DOCID+@lit(bdsdccc1901))

After the census results are provided by the President to Congress, the Clerk of the House informs the

governor of each state how many seats his or her state is entitled. What happens next in the process?

http://history.house.gov/Institution/Apportionment/Reapportioning/

How Your State Gets Its Seats

Congressional Apportionment

STUDY QUESTIONS

Use these resources from the U.S. House of Representatives and Library of Congress

Websites to ﬁnd the answers to the study questions:

Think about the population of each state. Consider ones that have large cities and ones that are

mainly rural. Can you guess which states have one Representative? (Hint: there are seven states

with one Representative.) How does the requirement that each state have at least one Representative

affect the division of Representatives among the states?

http://history.house.gov/Institution/Apportionment/Apportionment/

(Click on Apportionment by State PDF on bottom of page)

The fourth paragraph of the essay states that the House wanted a “manageable” number of

members. Why is this important in a legislative body? How would too many members impact the way

the House operates?

What are the issues between urban and rural areas referred to in paragraph ﬁve?

http://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Permanent-Apportionment-Act-of-1929/

Using the “Apportionment by State” chart, ﬁnd states that have gained representation and states that

have lost representation since the 13th census. What do you learn about your state’s representation

in the House of Representatives? Are there nation-wide trends? What conclusions can you draw from

the data?

http://history.house.gov/Institution/Apportionment/Apportionment/

How Your State Gets Its Seats

Congressional Apportionment

STUDY QUESTIONS

Use these resources from the U.S. House of Representatives and Library of Congress

Websites to ﬁnd the answers to the study questions:

Non-voting Delegates represent the

District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories

of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the

Commonwealth of Northern Mariana

Islands, and American Samoa. A non-voting

Resident Commissioner represents the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Non-voting members may speak during

debate on the ﬂoor of the House, offer

amendments and introduce bills. Non-

voting members also serve as committee

members. However, they cannot vote on

ﬁnal passage of legislation.

Among the proposed amendments to the

Constitution it is listed as “Article the First.”

The amendment outlined the total number

of Representatives as well as the number of

people represented by each member. It was

an attempt to address the expected growth

and expansion of the country.

State legislatures must redraw the physical

boundaries of congressional districts. The

states are bound by limits established by

Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Often the districts are redrawn so that one

political party dominates, thereby ensuring

the election of Representatives of the

desired party.

Seven states have one Representative:

Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota,

South Dakota, Vermont, and Delaware.

The total U.S. population cannot simply

be divided by number of members (435)

to determine apportionment. This makes

calculating the apportionment for each state

more complicated.

Legislative bodies have rules that establish

daily operations. Having too many

members impacts the ability of members to

participate in committees, speak on issues,

know their fellow members, and form the

consensus necessary to pass legislation.

The 20th century ushered in a large shift

of the U.S. population from rural to urban

areas. The growth of cities and demand

for greater representation in the House of

Representatives was viewed with signiﬁcant

concern by primarily rural states that feared

a loss of representation and inﬂuence in

Congress.

How Your State Gets Its Seats

Congressional Apportionment

ANSWERS