For the time at which it was conceived of and set up, the U.S. Congress was a very advanced and (dare we say it?) liberal legislative body. It was, in many ways, far in advance of its time, and served as something of an experiment in indirect democracy. However, that was then, and this is now. The U.S. has since grown enormously in several areas, such as population, diversity, education, and technology. At long last, in comparison with some legislatures in foreign countries (we are referring here to democratic countries…), our legislature is starting to look rather shopworn.
Each of our direct representatives in the House of Representatives represents roughly 700,000 of us. It is said that we have only 435 of them because that was the number of seats available in the largest assembly room in the Capitol. They are disproportionately wealthy, white, Anglo, male, Protestant, and old (with an incumbency rate of roughly 95%) How well can such an elite understand what most of their ±700,000 constituents, think about, aspire to, or simply need?
We have, as some have put it, the best congress that money can buy, and lets face it, our congress is bought to the extent that 75-80% of the cost of their campaigns are financed by corporate donations. Corporations do not donate money to be “good citizens,” but rather to do what they do: make a profit. They expect a return on their investment, and they get it. Our congressional system is based on bribery, which in most normal democratic countries except this one, would land our representatives in jail.
Now, lets assume that you have a magic wand (your vote) in your hands, and some ideals and ideas in your high-powered minds. How might you refurbish our congressional system to bring it into the 21st Century? This is an open-ended question, which can lead to many different approaches or strategies from more concrete to more abstract, and everything in between. Do try, however, to keep this somewhat within the realm of the possible and preferable.
(Furthermore, please keep in mind that our system is supposed to be based upon the ideal of democracy, not quotas, appointed representatives or other anti-democratic devices. We also are not in favor of reverse gerrymandering, revolution [very messy and deadly], or complete anarchy [which we are not evolved enough to deal with constructively, anyway.])
