Why Representation Matters.

History’s greatest political struggles have centered on one issue: representation. Anytime a government fails to live up to its stated purpose, friction between the political elite and everyday commoners abounds. The fight is over who should be in charge. And how much power they should have. Different parties and interests grasp for power, shifting wealth and influence in a different direction. The story of civilization is a story of expanding and restricting representation, and America is no exception.

And yet, today, we seem to have forgotten the central issue. Right now, there are educated and decent people trying to have real discussions about representation, but most Americans can’t hear them over all the noise—the endless partisan fights, the power grabs, the culture wars. Red and Blue say they speak for "the people," but neither is talking about the people's actual power: representation. Both sides are fighting to save democracy, and neither is protecting republicanism.

To be an American and protect our freedom, we must understand representation.

The American Revolution was just another chapter in this long struggle. Its battle cry—"No taxation without representation"—wasn’t just about taxes; it was about representation, about who had a voice in government. The colonists didn’t see themselves as mere subjects of a distant king; they saw themselves as free people who deserved a say in their own laws.

They saw themselves as Republicans and they fought for representation.

This was the next step in a centuries-old process. From the Magna Carta to the Glorious Revolution, English history had already laid the groundwork for the idea that rulers must answer to the governed. The American Revolution carried that tradition forward, demanding a system where power came from the people—not the monarchy.

However, representation didn’t stop expanding after America declared independence. The biggest political battles in U.S. history centered around who got included in the promise of self-government. The Great Compromise divided Congress between the Senate, representing the States, and the House, securing representation for the people of the states. The Three-Fifths Compromise was a fight over representation—slave states wanted more congressional seats without granting representation to enslaved people.

The Civil War was, at its core, a war over whether the country would fully embrace the republican right of representation or continue a system where millions were governed without consent. Jim Crow laws in the South weren’t just about racial oppression; they were designed to strip Black citizens of their representation, even after the 15th Amendment granted them the right to vote.

The women’s suffrage movement fought to expand representation again, culminating in the 19th Amendment. The Civil Rights Movement was another chapter, as activists like Martin Luther King Jr. demanded that America live up to its own ideals by ensuring that Black Americans had real political power. Every single one of these battles was about who gets a seat at the table and who gets left out.

The Progressive Era reshaped American republicanism by expanding federal and executive power, shifting authority from states and local communities to the presidency. These changes moved representation away from the people. It also shifted how Americans thought about themselves—not as citizens in a republic but as beneficiaries of federal action—no longer citizens of a republic but members of a political party.

The Progressive Era expanded democratic participation while also concentrating power in the federal and executive branches. Reforms like the 17th and 19th Amendments expanded voting rights, while initiatives and referendums gave citizens direct influence over laws. At the same time, federal agencies like the FTC and FDA centralized power in Washington, and presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson expanded executive authority through trust-busting and economic intervention.

Over time, Americans began to think of their government as a democracy to be won, rather than a republic to be represented.

Have you ever considered your representation? There are fifty senators in the Senate, two representatives per state. Have you ever wondered why we have 435 representatives in the House? The Constitution instructs Congress to reapportion the members of the House every ten years after the census. So, why has the people's power been limited?

Why 435?

Between 1920 and 1929, while Americans adjusted to a rapidly expanding economy and population, returned from war, and were taxed to pay for the debt, Congress failed to apportion the House due to political disputes over urban vs. rural representation. And then quietly capped the people’s power. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 limited representation in the House to 435 seats. While the number was adequate for 1929, the population has tripled to nearly 330 million. In 1929, each House member represented 220,000 people; today, that number is about 750,000. As the population grew while representation remained capped, the people's power was diluted.

The House's capping and the increase in population have shrunk our republic, making it ripe for corruption and control. With fewer representatives, elections become more expensive, lobbyists gain more influence, and the average citizen's voice gets drowned out. Thus, the House becomes a place for a wealthy and exclusive political class instead of a place for the people.

Progressive era reforms have slowly shifted the US into a winner-take-all executive democracy. The people are forced to choose between red or blue. Both major parties claim to represent 'the people,' yet neither prioritizes structural reforms that would restore real representation. Instead of focusing on making government more accountable to the people, both political parties play the game like it’s an executive democracy rather than a constitutional republic.

While many republican mechanisms remain in place, the political maneuver most played aligns the branches of Congress with the Executive to act. Our republic is no longer governing; it is ruling. Congress no longer represents the people; it represents some people. It no longer acts; it defers. Depending on which side of the democracy you voted for, the President is either the villain or the hero.

Republicans and Democrats once believed in representative democracy; now, they believe in executive democracy. They treat the presidency as the ultimate prize, deciding everything. The result? Congress has weakened itself, and elections have become a battle for total control rather than a negotiation between representatives of the people.

This isn’t how the American republic is supposed to work. Americans have forgotten they are republicans—believers in representative government. Republicanism means shared authority through representation, local governance, and a system where power isn’t concentrated in one person or one party. Republicans hold government accountable. They divide, separate, and share power. To be a republican is to take responsibility for self-government—to understand that representation is the foundation of freedom.

Peace & Love,

Jeff Mayhugh