Alexa Duffy is a second-year undergrad studying political science, international studies, and minoring in French at The Ohio State University. Originally from Akron, Alexa grew up in North Carolina as well as lived in London, England for a time as a child. She values traveling and has experience with doing humanitarian work. In high school, Alexa had the opportunity to travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Echo Foundation where she helped victims and talked with officials regarding some of the issues happening there. On campus, Alexa is Vice President of Amnesty international, member of College Democrats at Ohio State, an ambassador for OSU votes, a mentor in PSL, part of OSU USG (Undergraduate Student Government), a lifeguard, member of the Ski Club, and a part of the Ohio State student radio. Alexa is passionate with making a difference through foreign policy. In the future, she intends to either continue working in the non-profit sector through Amnesty International or go into the foreign services. Some of Alexa’s interests include going to the gym and swimming.

November Prompt

Congressional Appointment: The problems and solutions with the House of Representatives

The purpose of the House of Representatives was to represent people according to the population of the state, but with the current system emplace, it hasn’t been effective in representing the growing population in the United States. Redistricting is often seen as a big issue in modern America. With the extreme cases of disproportional representation amongst the states like that between the states of Montana and Wyoming to the lack of representation for the citizens of the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories, many people believe that the way the House is congressionally appointed is not fair. Although this is a problem in the United States, there are solutions that would negate this. One solution for this problem could be adopting the “Wyoming Rule.” The “Wyoming Rule” is a proposal to increase the size of the United States House of Representatives so that the standard representative-to-population ratio would be that of the smallest entitled unit. This just means that the total population of the fifty states will be divided by the population of the smallest state (Wyoming) and that would serve as the number of congressional districts to be appointed. This solution wouldn’t even be new to congress as it was used back in 1920. Another solution is the “Cube Root Rule.” The “Cube Root Rule” is another proposal which states that the number of congressional districts appointed would be determined by the cube root of the total U.S. population minus 100 (to account for the number of senators). This solution offers a more fitting representation of the growing population. Either one of these plans can be implicated and would better serve as a more equal way to go about congressional appointment. Whatever route we decide to take, the goal would be met and a more “fair” House of Representatives would represent the American people.