This is a quick glance at the numbers, specifically the representation ratio.
How many people does the Representative speak?
Until the passage of the of the Apportionment Act of 1911, Congress increased the size of the House after every decennial census. Since the beginning, the US population has increased 84x while the representation ratio has increased 12x, that seems a bit lacking to me…
| Year | House Seats | Population | US Rep Ratio |
| 1789 | 65 | 3,929,214 | 60,449 |
| 1793 | 105 | 3,929,214 | 37,421 |
| 1803 | 142 | 5,308,483 | 37,386 |
| 1813 | 182 | 7,239,881 | 39,785 |
| 1823 | 213 | 9,638,453 | 45,247 |
| 1833 | 240 | 12,866,020 | 53,608 |
| 1853 | 233 | 17,069,453 | 73,280 |
| 1873 | 293 | 38,558,371 | 131,588 |
| 1883 | 325 | 50,189,209 | 154,427 |
| 1891 | 356 | 62,979,766 | 176,898 |
| 1901 | 386 | 76,212,168 | 197,236 |
| 1911 | 433/435 | 92,228,496 | 212,828 |
| 2020 | 435 | 331,449,281 | 761,952 |
Let’s break this down a different way. Here we see the state with the most representatives (most populated state) and the representation ratio compared to the state with the smallest population at the time. Interesting to see the representation ratio similarity between the most populated state and the country’s ratio as a whole.
| Census | State | # Reps | Population | Rep Ratio | State | # Reps | Population |
| 1790 | Virginia | 19 | 747,610 | 39,348 | Delaware | 1 | 59,094 |
| 1800 | Virginia | 22 | 886,149 | 40,279 | Delaware | 1 | 64,273 |
| 1810 | New York | 27 | 959,049 | 35,520 | Delaware | 1 | 72,674 |
| 1820 | New York | 34 | 1,372,812 | 40,377 | Delaware | 1 | 72,749 |
| 1830 | New York | 40 | 1,918,608 | 47,965 | Delaware | 1 | 76,748 |
| 1840 | New York | 34 | 2,428,921 | 71,439 | Delaware | 1 | 78,085 |
| 1850 | New York | 33 | 3,097,394 | 93,860 | Delaware | 1 | 91,532 |
| 1860 | New York | 31 | 3,880,735 | 125,185 | Nevada | 1 | 6,857 |
| 1870 | New York | 33 | 4,382,759 | 132,205 | Nevada | 1 | 42,491 |
| 1880 | New York | 34 | 5,082,871 | 149,496 | Nevada | 1 | 62,266 |
| 1890 | New York | 34 | 5,997,853 | 176,407 | Nevada | 1 | 45,761 |
| 1900 | New York | 37 | 7,268,894 | 196,457 | Nevada | 1 | 42,335 |
| 1910 | New York | 43 | 9,113,614 | 211,949 | Nevada | 1 | 81,875 |
| 1920 | New York | 45 | 10,385,227 | 230,783 | Nevada | 1 | 77,407 |
| 1930 | New York | 45 | 12,588,066 | 279,735 | Nevada | 1 | 91,058 |
| 1940 | New York | 45 | 13,479,142 | 299,536 | Nevada | 1 | 110,247 |
| 1950 | New York | 45 | 14,830,192 | 329,560 | Alaska | 1 | 128,643 |
| 1960 | New York | 45 | 16,782,304 | 372,940 | Wyoming | 1 | 330,066 |
| 1970 | New York | 41 | 18,241,391 | 444,912 | Wyoming | 1 | 332,416 |
| 1980 | California | 45 | 23,667,902 | 525,953 | Wyoming | 1 | 469,557 |
| 1990 | California | 52 | 29,760,021 | 572,308 | Wyoming | 1 | 453,588 |
| 2000 | California | 53 | 33,871,648 | 639,087 | Wyoming | 1 | 493,782 |
| 2010 | California | 53 | 37,253,956 | 702,905 | Wyoming | 1 | 563,626 |
| 2020 | California | 52 | 39,538,223 | 760,350 | Wyoming | 1 | 576,851 |
Finally, taking a look at other democracies around the world, a few from Europe, Asia, and South America, noting Pakistan (241,499,431) and Indonesia (270,203,917) have populations most similar to the United States (331,449,281).
| Country | Rep Ratio |
| United Kingdom | 101,000 |
| Germany | 134,000 |
| France | 118,000 |
| Spain | 143,000 |
| Netherlands | 115,000 |
| Japan | 270,000 |
| South Korea | 173,000 |
| Pakistan | 652,000 |
| Indonesia | 466,000 |
| Brazil | 413,000 |
| Chile | 117,000 |
| Argentina | 177,000 |