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  1. Path: sparky!uunet!utcsri!skule.ecf!torn!news.ccs.queensu.ca!qucdn!2893684
  2. Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
  3. Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 00:30:56 EST
  4. From: Andy <2893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
  5. Message-ID: <93022.0030562893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
  6. Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics
  7. Subject: Re: DC statehood/representation and democracy
  8. References:  <9301160002.AA01674@SAIL.Stanford.EDU>
  9. Lines: 35
  10.  
  11. In article <9301160002.AA01674@SAIL.Stanford.EDU>, andy@SAIL.STANFORD.EDU (Andy
  12. Freeman) says:
  13. >
  14. >>Large U.S. cities, with the exception of Washington, already have
  15. >>representatives in Congress. Washington has none. That doesn't
  16. >>seem very democratic.
  17. >
  18. >So?  Neither is senate representation.  Neither is the electoral
  19. >college.  Neither is representative apportionment in general.
  20. >Arguably these are still good things.  (Hmm - the 1st amendment isn't
  21. >all that democratic either but we seem to have some agreement that it
  22. >is a good thing.)
  23. Didn't taxation without representation lead to the American Revolution?
  24.  
  25. >
  26. >>By the way, I don't think D.C. itself CAN get statehood, not without
  27. >>a constitutional amendment. I think Congress will have to pull a kind
  28. >>of trick. It will have to shrink the Capital down to a very small,
  29. >>non-residential area. The rest of Washington it can make into
  30. >>a state.
  31. >>Silly, isn't it?
  32. >
  33. >It would make more sense to shrink DC and then annex/divide the rest
  34. >to neighboring state(s).
  35. >
  36. >>>        Anyone for 10 Senators from the former city of New York?
  37. >>
  38. >>Ulp. Uh, no thanks.
  39. >
  40. >How about 10 from Texas?
  41. >
  42. >-andy thinks that large state delegations in Congress should be
  43. >      constrained in ways that small ones aren't, even though that's
  44. >      not particularly democratic either.  Democracy isn't necessarily
  45. >      good, let alone the only good.
  46.