Article the first of the Bill of Rights

The book "Article the first of the Bill of Rights" tells the forgotten story of constitutional representation and We the People. Today's Congress, with 435 representatives for 300 million people, is a system of under-representation of We the People: instead of 30,000 citizens per representative, each one in the current Congress represents more than 650,000 citizens.

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) August 19, 2006 -- The book “Article the first of the Bill of Rights” tells the forgotten story of constitutional representation and We the People.

The US Constitution, in Article 1, Section 2, and Clause 3, as written, ratified and never amended, guarantees We the People a right to representation. The words in the US Constitution are clear: “The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand.” But “Article the first” of the Bill of Rights (there were 12 articles) would have amended the ratio and changed it to “fifty thousand persons.” But it was not ratified. That means one for every 30,000 remains the supreme law of the land and the constitutional ratio of representation.

Today's Congress, with 435 representatives for 300 million people, is a system of under-representation of We the People: instead of 30,000 citizens per representative, each one in the current Congress represents more than 650,000 citizens. Or think of different under-represented groups, women for example. Women are more than 50 percent of We the People, and yet have only 70 Representatives, or 16 percent of the current House membership. That is a 34 percent under-representation of women as a group.

When is the best time to build a new US House of Representatives to represent We the People? The year 2010 and the next census, just like the US Constitution dictates.

Reviewer comments: “The consequences of limited representation can be devastating: the founders understood this risk, so they created a mechanism to offer citizens ongoing, consistent representation in federal affairs. Like a small, forgotten key tucked under the doormat of an enormous but otherwise impenetrable house, Bryan Brickner explains how Article the first of the Bill of Rights could unlock a crucial gateway for We the People.”
~ Stephen Young, author of Maximizing Harm (2006)

“This is one of those books written to challenge your thinking. Taxation without constitutional representation is disfranchising. It is also tyranny.”
~ Ra Chaka, organizer for the African American Alliance for Peace & Justice

About the author:
Bryan W. Brickner is the author of "The Promise Keepers: Politics and Promises" (1999) and received his Ph.D. in political science from Purdue University in 1997. He also has published a novel, "hereafter," on Lulu.com. He is currently a writer and activist in Chicago.

About Lulu:
Founded in 2002, Lulu is the world’s fastest-growing print-on-demand marketplace for digital do-it-yourselfers. Please see www.Lulu.com for more information.

Media Contact:
Bryan Brickner
773-308-3777

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