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Explain why Webster's method cannot produce (a) the Alabama paradox (b) the new-states paradox

Short Answer

Expert verified
Webster's method rounds fractional quotas to the nearest whole number, ensuring that as the total number of seats increases, states do not lose seats (preventing the Alabama Paradox), nor does adding new states cause counterintuitive apportionment changes among the original states (preventing the New-States Paradox).

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Alabama Paradox

The Alabama Paradox occurs when an increase in the total number of seats results in a loss of a seat for a particular state. This happens under a system of apportionment that uses a divisor method with a set of unique multipliers for each state. To understand why Webster's method cannot produce the Alabama Paradox, we need to know that Webster's method rounds fractional quotas to the nearest whole number, without jumping over any potential divisors that would trigger the paradox.
02

Understanding the New-States Paradox

The New-States Paradox occurs when adding a new state (and thereby new seats) changes the apportionment of the original states in an unintuitive manner. This typically happens under a divisor method. WebDriver's method avoids this paradox by adjusting divisors such that rounding does not produce counterintuitive results when new states are added.
03

Analyzing Apportionment Under Webster's Method

Webster's method of apportionment rounds quotas to the nearest whole number, which means it adjusts the divisor such that the resulting fractions hover as close to .5 as possible above and below the whole number. This approach ensures the quotas round to whole numbers in a way that reflects as closely as possible the ideal share based on population, therefore preventing both the Alabama and New-States paradoxes.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Alabama Paradox
The Alabama Paradox is a quirk of apportionment calculations that can occur when using certain divisor methods. This paradox arises when an increase in the total number of seats to be apportioned results in a decrease in the number of seats allocated to a specific state, even though the state's population has not decreased. It highlights a potential inconsistency in the apportionment process.

For Webster's method, the Alabama Paradox does not happen due to the method's design. Webster's method approaches apportionment by rounding fractional quotas to the nearest whole number, carefully adjusting the divisor to ensure that the apportionment of seats remains consistent and fair, even if the total number of seats increases.
New-States Paradox
The New-States Paradox is another intriguing scenario in the realm of apportionment. It occurs when the admission of a new state into the union necessitates the addition of new seats to the legislature, causing a surprising and unintended redistribution of seats among the existing states.

Under Webster's method, this paradox is averted, as the modified divisor compensates for the new state's seats. Adjustments ensure that the rounding of quotas maintains the proportional representation of all states, including any newcomers, thus avoiding any unexpected shift in seat allocation that would constitute the New-States Paradox.
Divisor Method
The divisor method is a widely-used approach for apportionment, which divides the population of each state by a common divisor to obtain quotients. Depending on the specific method, these quotients are then rounded up or down to the nearest whole number to determine the state's share of the available seats.

Webster's method, a variant of the divisor method, rounds quotients to the nearest whole number, thereby avoiding the typical paradoxes associated with standard divisor methods. By striving to keep rounding as unbiased as possible, Webster's method leads to a fairer and more equitable distribution of seats.
Apportionment Paradoxes
Apportionment paradoxes refer to a collection of counterintuitive results that can arise during the allocation of seats in a legistlative body. Besides the Alabama and New-States paradoxes, there are others such as the Population Paradox. The Population Paradox occurs when a state with a faster-growing population ends up losing a seat to a state with a slower-growing population after apportionment.

These paradoxes illustrate the complexities and potential difficulties in creating a system that distributes representation in a way that feels logical and fair to all parties involved. An understanding of these paradoxes is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of different apportionment methods, including Webster's method.
Government Apportionment
Government apportionment is the process by which seats in a representative body, such as a legislature or parliament, are assigned to different constituencies, states, or regions based on population. This process is critical for ensuring a fair and proportional representation of the populace in the government.

While methods like Webster's aim to achieve this equity, each apportionment method has its strengths and weaknesses. It's crucial to analyze these methods not just for their mathematical robustness but also for their ability to withstand paradoxes that can compromise the perception of fair representation.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

(a) Explain why, when Jefferson's method is used, any violations of the quota rule must be upper-quota violations. (b) Explain why, when Adams's method is used, any violations of the quota rule must be lower-quota violations. (c) Explain why, in the case of an apportionment problem with two states, violations of the quota rule cannot occur under either Jefferson's or Adams's method. [Hint: Use the results of (a) and (b).

The small nation of Fireland is divided into four counties: Arcadia, Belarmine, Crowley, and Dandia. Fireland uses Jefferson's method to apportion the 100 seats in the Chamber of Deputies among the four counties. Table 31 shows the populations of the four counties after the most recent Censuls. (a) Find the standard divisor and the standard quotas for each county. (b) Determine how many seats would be apportioned if each county was given its lower quota. (c) Determine how many seats would be apportioned if the divisor \(d=197,000\) is used to compute the modified quotas and then all of them are rounded down. (d) Determine how many seats would be apportioned if the divisor \(d=195,000\) is used to compute the modified quotas and then all of them are rounded down. (e) Determine how many seats would be apportioned if the divisor \(d=195.800\) is used to compute the modified quotas and then all of them are rounded down. (f) Determine how many seats would be apportioned if the divisor \(d=196,000\) is used to compute the modified quotas and then all of them are rounded down. (g) Without doing any additional computations, find three difbrs that would work under Jefferson's method. $$\begin{array}{l|c|c|c|c}\text { County } & \text { Arcadia } & \text { Belarmine } & \text { Crowley } & \text { Dandia } \\\\\hline \text { Population } & 4,500,000 & 4,900,000 & 3,900,000 & 6,700,000\end{array}$$

Happy Rivers County consists of three towns: Dunes, Smithville, and Johnstown. Each year the social workers employed by the county are apportioned among the three towns based on the number of cases in each town over the previous calendar year. The number of cases in each town in 2011 is shown in Table \(29 .\) (a) Suppose the total number of social workers employed by the county is \(M=24\). Use Hamilton's method to apportion the social workers to the towns based on the caseloads shown in Table \(29 .\) (b) Suppose the total number of social workers employed by the county is \(M=25 .\) Use Hamilton's method to apportion the social workers to the towns based on the caseloads shown in Table 29 (c) Compare your answers in (a) and (b). What is strange about the two apportionments? $$\begin{array}{l|c|c|c}\text { Town } & \text { Dunes } & \text { Smithville } & \text { Johnstown } \\\\\hline \text { Number of cases } & 41 & 106 & 253\end{array}$$

This exercise comes in two parts. Read Part \(I\) and answer (a) and (b), then read Part II and answer (c) and (d). Part I. The Intergalactic Federation consists of three sovereign planets: Aila, with a population of 5.2 million, Balin. with a population of 15.1 million, and Cona, with a population of 10.6 million. The Intergalactic Parliament has 50 seats that are apportioned among the three planets based on their populations. (a) Find the standard divisor in the Intergalactic Parliament. (b) Find the apportionment of the 50 seats to the three planets under Hamilton's method. Part II. Based on the results of a referendum, the federation expands to include a fourth planet, Dent, with a population of 9.5 million. To account for the additional population the number of seats in the Intergalactic Parliament is increased by 15 to a total of \(65 .[9.5\) million individuals represent approximately 15 seats based on the standard divisor found in (a).] (c) Find the apportionment of the 65 seats to the four planets using Hamilton's method. (d) Which paradox is illustrated by the results of (b) and (c)? Explain.

This exercise comes in two parts. Read Part I and answer (a) and (b), then read Part II and answer (c) and (d). Part I. A catering company contracts to provide catering services to three schools: Alexdale, with 617 students, Bromville, with 1,292 students, and Canley, with 981 students. The 30 food-service workers employed by the catering company are apportioned among the schools based on student enrollments. (a) Find the standard divisor, rounded to the nearest integer. (b) Find the apportionment of the 30 workers to the three schools under Hamilton's method. Part II. The catering company gets a contract to service one additional school-Dillwood, with 885 students. To account for the additional students, the company hires 9 additional food-service workers. [885 students represent approximately 9 workers based on the standard divisor found in (a). (c) Find the apportionment of the 39 workers to the four schools under Hamilton's method. (d) Which paradox is illustrated by the results of (b) and (c)? Explain.

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