American Academy of Arts & Sciences

UPCOMING VIRTUAL EVENT

A Radical Old Idea: Expanding the U.S. House of Representatives

May 16, 2023 | 2:00 p.m. EDT

America’s Founding Fathers intended that the House of Representatives would grow as the population grew – and for more than a century, it did. Then, in 1929, Congress capped the size of the House at 435 members. Now, each member of the House represents on average more than 750,000 constituents. 

A growing body of experts and policymakers, inspired by the American Academy’s Our Common Purpose report, are working to fix this problem. 

In this virtual event, Danielle Allen, Norm Ornstein, Yuval Levin, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and others will discuss why increasing the number of representatives in the House is crucial to the health of our democracy and what it will take to restore the Founders’ vision for the First Branch.

Featuring 

Danielle Allen

Director, Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics;
James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University;
Cochair, American Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship 

Earl Blumenauer

United States Representative, Third Congressional District of Oregon

Yuval Levin

Director, Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, American
Enterprise Institute

Norm Ornstein

Senior Fellow Emeritus, American Enterprise Institute

With welcome remarks by Academy President David Oxtoby

Event Date: May 16, 2023

Registration

Please register to participate in this virtual event. A Zoom link will be included in your confirmation message. Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues or contacts who may find this event of interest.

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

For questions, please contact the Events Department at [email protected]