Apportionment: United States Census and Method
CHAPTER 14: APPORTIONMENT
I. Basics
Example 1: Suppose a country consists of five states (North, South, East, West and Central) and representation in the National Assembly should be in proportion to each state’s population. The latest census figures are:
|North | 9279 |
|South | 7217 |
|East | 5155 |
|West | 3093 |
|Central | 2062 |
|Total |26,806 |
If there are 26 seats in the Assembly, how should they be apportioned among the five states?
Solution: Let’s start by dividing the total population by the number of seats: ____1031_______ . This tells us how many citizens each member of the National Assembly represents and is called the standard divisor.
The number of seats each state is entitled to, called its quota, is
North’s quota is _____9____ South’s quota is __7_______ East’s quota is ____5_____
West’s quota is ______3___ Central’s quota is _____2____
The two formulas above can be combined to yield:
Example 2: Suppose a later census is taken and the following population figures are revealed. How should the 26 seats be apportioned among the 5 states?
Solution: Notice the quotas aren’t whole numbers any more. Round them off, you say? Std. Divisor = 1000
|State |Population |Std. Quota |Quota |Rounded quota |
|North | 9061 |9.061 |9 | |
|South | 7179 |7.179 |7 | |
|East | 5259 |5.259 |5 | |
|West | 3319 |3.319 |3 | |
|Central | 1182
I. Basics
Example 1: Suppose a country consists of five states (North, South, East, West and Central) and representation in the National Assembly should be in proportion to each state’s population. The latest census figures are:
|North | 9279 |
|South | 7217 |
|East | 5155 |
|West | 3093 |
|Central | 2062 |
|Total |26,806 |
If there are 26 seats in the Assembly, how should they be apportioned among the five states?
Solution: Let’s start by dividing the total population by the number of seats: ____1031_______ . This tells us how many citizens each member of the National Assembly represents and is called the standard divisor.
The number of seats each state is entitled to, called its quota, is
North’s quota is _____9____ South’s quota is __7_______ East’s quota is ____5_____
West’s quota is ______3___ Central’s quota is _____2____
The two formulas above can be combined to yield:
Example 2: Suppose a later census is taken and the following population figures are revealed. How should the 26 seats be apportioned among the 5 states?
Solution: Notice the quotas aren’t whole numbers any more. Round them off, you say? Std. Divisor = 1000
|State |Population |Std. Quota |Quota |Rounded quota |
|North | 9061 |9.061 |9 | |
|South | 7179 |7.179 |7 | |
|East | 5259 |5.259 |5 | |
|West | 3319 |3.319 |3 | |
|Central | 1182