The Apportionment Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Apportionment Problem - Essay Example This is so that they could have more than one representative, as Five would technically have .07! Changes in population would cause this apportionment to be revisited occasionally and again, the US method of a census every decade determining representation would be the best bet. The biggest problem with this is the method is absolutely unfair in that four states (3, 4, 6 and 8) will control 65% of the votes. However the method seems to work quite well in the US where states like California and New York likewise have a large representation. Yet the country’s multiple party method seems to work quite well, for Congressional votes are generally along party lines and seldom do all members from one particular state band together (Theriault). Of course appeasing State Five by adding seats so that it could have equality in Congress could very well result in what is known as an Alabama Paradox. This occurred for that state in 1880, whereby adding seats to Congress so that Alabama could gain actually caused it to actually lose a seat, due to the mathematical statistics (Janson). Another methodology would be the Huntington-Hill, a more complex formula that utilizes square roots but which is also more equitable (See Table 2) (US Census). Based upon the calculations I have listed, apportionment is the best answer for fair and equal representation of each state. No matter how else it is drawn smaller states such as Five will always face having less representation (Much as Montana and Wyoming only also have one vote whereas minute Rhode Island has 2). The only other way would be to divide the 100 seats by the number of states (10 each), just like the US Senate has a standard of two per state, no matter the