General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: California is in danger of losing a House seat after adding 2.3 million people [View all]Bucky
(53,997 posts)But in the 1920s they went with the 435 cap. The size of the lower chamber can impair the ability to make deals and get to know enough colleagues to hammer out compromises and contain pork barrel legislation. They're losing the battle for responsible lawmaking now with the 435 member limit--increasing the headcount will only lead to more partisanship--or that mob mentality that Hamilton (and other Framers of the Constitution) worried about.
Gerrymandering will not be harder with more districts. It'll be easier. The much smaller state legislative districts are much more easily gerrymandered than Congressional districts with their 750,000 resident targets. It's in the state lege's that gerrymandering is the greater problem. The lines that get drawn (and the laws they pass) get far less scrutiny than Congress does.