4.21 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.