Akhil Reed Amar notes in his great book America’s Constitution: A Biography that the anti-Fedralists were concerned that the House of Representatives would have too few members.

These “men of little faith” feared that members of an overly select House would become targets for bribery and corruption, whether at the hands of a dishonest president, a wealthy manipulator, or a foreign power. If even a handful of congressmen turned out to be crooked, the intrigues of such a junto might carry the day in a small assembly. A larger assembly would have been that much harder to bribe. (p. 78)

That got me thinking. Why not double or even triple the size of the House? We would feel more in touch with our representatives, and perhaps they would behave more like a smart mob and less like professional tools.

I dunno. Could be a really stupid idea. And I have no idea how it could actually be implemented, since it would require passing traversing portal through which no one emerges uncorrupted: Redistricting. But there you have it… [Tags: politics smart_mobs congress akhil_reed_amar ]

Categories: Uncategorized dw