What is the optimal number of seats in the United States Congress? On 25 September 1789, the Congress proposed twelve amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Ten of these amendments–the so-called “Bill of Rights“–were subsequently ratified by the requisite number of States. The two “lost” amendments that were not ratified at the time are the original first amendment — the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, which would have enacted a new mathematical formula for determining the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives — and the Congressional Compensation Amendment, which was finally ratified in 1992 (becoming the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)! This amendment states that any law that increases or decreases the salary of members of Congress may take effect only after the next election of the House of Representatives has occurred.
Bonus link: Check out this fascinating paper by Zachary S. Elkins (University of Texas) for a history of the 200-year gestation and birth of the 27th Amendment. (Professor Elkins’s paper is also available here and here.)
