Most Voters Favor Smaller Congressional Districts To Make Congress More Responsive to Voters

Publication Date: 08/01/2025 3:42 PM CST

Most Voters Favor Smaller Congressional Districts To Make Congress More Responsive to Voters

by Scott Rasmussen

Political Analyst

Publication: 08/01/2025 3:42 PM CST

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There are about 750,000 people in each Congressional District. Just 22% of voters believe it is possible for any one person to accurately represent the views of that many people.
- Sixty-eight percent (68%) say it is not possible.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters favor reducing the of Congressional Districts to about 100,000 people.
- Twenty-nine percent (29%) are opposed.
- By a 51% to 23% margin, voters believe smaller districts would make Congress more responsive to the American people.
- A district of 100,000 people would include about 40,000 households.
George Washington and James Madison thought that smaller Congressional Districts were essential to a representative government.
- When told of Washington and Madison's view, support for reducing Congressional Districts to 100,000 residents jumps to 69%
- Only 19% are opposed.
- That highlights the instinctive reverence many voters have for the founding fathers.
Even when told that smaller districts might create a Congress with 2,500 or so Representatives, 55% favor and 31% are opposed.
- With smaller Districts, Members of Congress would spend more time in their districts and less time in Washington. Knowing that, support for smaller districts increases to 69%.
- Ideally, with small districts, Members would be allowed to vote from their district surrounded by constituents rather than in Washington surrounded by lobbyists.
- Support is even higher for smaller districts if Congressional pensions are eliminated and the number of Congressional staffers are reduced. With these provisions, 73% support the smaller districts and only 16% are opposed.
When the Bill of Rights was presented to the states, 12 Amendments were proposed. Ten passed right away and another was finally ratified just a couple of decades ago.
- An Amendment requiring smaller districts was one vote short of ratification when the young country began adding more states. So, this proposed Amendment has never been ratified.
It's important to remember that when the Constitution was ratified and approved, the founders expected there would be 50% turnover in the House of Representatives every session. They expected that because it was the norm for state legislatures at the time.
- For more than a century after the Congress was established, the average turnover was around 50%. It began declining as the 20th century arrived and turnover fell to the single digits for the first time in 1968.

A Congress with smaller districts and 50% turnover would be far more responsive to voters and less responsive to the Political Class.

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