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Visualizing Political Bias in Bicameral Legislatures

The Economist – See the visualization here: “Left-of-centre Americans often bemoan their country’s Senate, in which each state gets two seats regardless of population. This has always given the least populous states extra sway in the upper chamber of Congress. But in recent years, smaller states have become more Republican, and Democrats have called for reform. Relative to parliaments elected by proportional representation, a method that matches shares of seats and votes, America’s Congress looks badly malapportioned. But many countries, seeking to ensure that regional interests are heard, use systems that represent both places and people. And according to a new working paper by Pablo Beramendi, Carles Boix, Marc Guinjoan and Melissa Rogers, all political scientists, imbalances like America’s are common in countries with bicameral legislatures. The authors measured malapportionment, defined as the gap between districts’ shares of seats and eligible voters, in 247 elections across 65 countries…”

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