Apportionment paradox

An apportionment paradox exists when the rules for apportionment in a political system produce results which are unexpected or seem to violate common sense.

To apportion is to divide into parts according to some rule, the rule typically being one of proportion. Certain quantities, like milk, can be divided in any proportion whatsoever; others, such as horses, cannot—only whole numbers will do. In the latter case, there is an inherent tension between our desire to obey the rule of proportion as closely as possible and the constraint restricting the size of each portion to discrete values. This results, at times, in unintuitive observations, or paradoxes.

Several paradoxes related to apportionment, also called fair division, have been identified. In some cases, simple post facto adjustments, if allowed, to an apportionment methodology can resolve observed paradoxes. However, as shown by examples relating to the United States House of Representatives, and subsequently proven by the Balinski-Young theorem, mathematics alone cannot always provide a single, fair resolution to the apportionment of remaining fractions into discrete equal whole number parts, while complying fully with all the competing fairness elements.[1]:227–235

History

The Alabama paradox was discovered in 1880,[1]:228–231 when census calculations found that if the total number of seats in the House of Representatives were hypothetically increased, this would decrease Alabama's seats from 8 to 7. An actual impact was observed in 1900, when Virginia lost a seat to Maine, even though Virginia's population was growing more rapidly: this is an example of the population paradox.[1]:231–232 In 1907, when Oklahoma became a state, New York lost a seat to Maine, thus the name "the new state paradox".[1]:232–233[2]

The method for apportionment used during this period, originally put forth by Alexander Hamilton, but vetoed by George Washington and not adopted until 1852,[1]:228 was as follows:

The Hamilton method replaced a rounding method proposed by Thomas Jefferson,[1]:228 and was itself replaced by the Huntington–Hill method in 1941.[1]:233 Under certain conditions, it too can give paradoxical results.

Examples of paradoxes

Alabama paradox

The Alabama paradox was the first of the apportionment paradoxes to be discovered. The US House of Representatives is constitutionally required to allocate seats based on population counts, which are required every 10 years. The size of the House is set by statute.

After the 1880 census, C. W. Seaton, chief clerk of the United States Census Bureau, computed apportionments for all House sizes between 275 and 350, and discovered that Alabama would get 8 seats with a House size of 299 but only 7 with a House size of 300.[1]:228–231 In general the term Alabama paradox refers to any apportionment scenario where increasing the total number of items would decrease one of the shares. A similar exercise by the Census Bureau after the 1900 census computed apportionments for all House sizes between 350 and 400: Colorado would have received three seats in all cases, except with a House size of 357 in which case it would have received two.[3]

The following is a simplified example (following the largest remainder method) with three states and 10 seats and 11 seats.

With 10 seats With 11 seats
State Population Fair share Seats Fair share Seats
A 6 4.286 4 4.714 5
B 6 4.286 4 4.714 5
C 2 1.429 2 1.571 1

Observe that state C's share decreases from 2 to 1 with the added seat.

This occurs because increasing the number of seats increases the fair share faster for the large states than for the small states. In particular, large A and B had their fair share increase faster than small C. Therefore, the fractional parts for A and B increased faster than those for C. In fact, they overtook C's fraction, causing C to lose its seat, since the Hamilton method examines which states have the largest remaining fraction.

Population paradox

The population paradox is a counterintuitive result of some procedures for apportionment. When two states have populations increasing at different rates, a small state with rapid growth can lose a legislative seat to a big state with slower growth.

Some of the earlier Congressional apportionment methods, such as Hamilton, could exhibit the population paradox. In 1900, Virginia lost a seat to Maine, even though Virginia's population was growing more rapidly.[1]:231–232 However, divisor methods such as the current method do not.[4]

New states paradox

Given a fixed number of total representatives (as determined by the United States House of Representatives), adding a new state would in theory reduce the number of representatives for existing states, as under the United States Constitution each state is entitled to at least one representative regardless of its population. However, because of how the particular apportionment rules deal with rounding methods, it is possible for an existing state to get more representatives than if the new state were not added. In 1907, when Oklahoma became a state, a recomputation of apportionment showed that the number of seats due to other states would be affected even though Oklahoma would be given a fair share of seats and the total number of seats increased by that number. The house increased from 386 to 391 members, which made New York lose a seat while Maine gained one, thus the name "the new state paradox".[1]:232–233[2]

Balinski-Young theorem

In 1983, two mathematicians, Michel Balinski and Peyton Young, proved that any method of apportionment will result in paradoxes whenever there are three or more parties (or states, regions, etc.).[5][6] The theorem shows that any possible method used to allocate the remaining fraction will necessarily fail to always follow quota. More precisely, their theorem states that there is no apportionment system that has the following properties[1]:233–234 (as the example we take the division of seats between parties in a system of proportional representation):

Methods may have a subset of these properties, but can't have all of them:

The division of seats in an election is a prominent cultural concern. In 1876, the United States presidential election turned on the method by which the remaining fraction was calculated. Rutherford Hayes received 185 electoral college votes, and Samuel Tilden received 184. Tilden won the popular vote. With a different rounding method the final electoral college tally would have reversed.[1]:228 However, many mathematically analogous situations arise in which quantities are to be divided into discrete equal chunks.[1]:233 The Balinski-Young theorem applies in these situations: it indicates that although very reasonable approximations can be made, there is no mathematically rigorous way in which to reconcile the small remaining fraction while complying with all the competing fairness elements.[1]:233

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Stein JD. How Math Explains the World: A Guide to the Power of Numbers, from Car Repair to Modern Physics. Smithsonian. Apr 22, 2008. ISBN 9780061241765
  2. 1 2 Caulfield MJ. Apportioning Representatives in the United States Congress - Paradoxes of Apportionment
  3. ↑ Cut-the-knot: The Constitution and Paradoxes
  4. 1 2 3 Smith, WD. "Apportionment and rounding schemes".
  5. ↑ Balinski, M; Young HP (1982). Fair Representation: Meeting the Ideal of One Man, One Vote. Yale Univ Pr. ISBN 0-300-02724-9.
  6. ↑ Balinski, M; Young HP (2001). Fair Representation: Meeting the Ideal of One Man, One Vote (2nd ed.). Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0-8157-0111-X.
  7. ↑ Balinski, M; Young HP (1974). "A new method for congressional apportionment". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 71: 4602–4606. doi:10.1073/pnas.71.11.4602. PMC 433936Freely accessible.

External links

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