The following questions review the main ideas of this chapter. Write your answers to the questions and then refer to the pages listed by number to make certain that you have mastered these ideas.
What are two advantages to using Hamilton’s method and Lowndes’ method? pg. 296 Which method tends to favor states with smaller populations and why? pg. 296
Reference:
Both Hamilton’s apportionment method and Lowndes’ apportionment method satisfy the quota rule and are easily applied (in comparison with methods that will be described in the next section). Nonetheless, there are at least two reasons for questioning the use of these methods. One reason is that on average both Hamilton’s method and Lowndes’ method are biased because Hamilton’s method favors states with larger populations and Lowndes’ method favors states with smaller populations. Hamilton’s method, when used to apportion the seats of the House of Representatives after 19 U.S. censuses, showed a very slight bias toward large states according to Fair Representation by Balinski and Young. Lowndes’ method is clearly biased toward small states because extra seats are awarded to the state with the largest relative fractional part. Smaller states are more likely to have a larger relative fractional part since the integer part is smaller than that of a large state.
We need at least 10 more requests to produce the solution.
0 / 10 have requested this problem solution
The more requests, the faster the answer.