Could More Representatives Help Congressional Gridlock?

08:40

October 22, 2013

The U.S. Capitol is seen as Congress convenes to negotiate a legislative path to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts that could kick in Jan. 1., 2013. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite) — (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

We recently spoke with former Republican Congressman Mickey Edwards, who had some ideas about how to fix the gridlock in Washington:

Hand over redistricting to independent boards
Change primaries so that they function as endorsements, so the primary would not determine who gets on the ballot
Limit political donations to individuals

After that conversation we got an email from listener Roberta Palmer, who suggested increasing the size of the House — so that a representative is responsible for fewer constituents — and increasing House term limits from two years to four years, to end the process of an unending campaign.

We run the ideas by Stanford professor Jack Rakove.

Guest

Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe professor of History and American Studies and professor of political science at Stanford University.

This segment aired on October 22, 2013.