Use Hamilton's plan to apportion the new seats to the existing states. Which state illustrates the Alabama paradox? Assume that the populations are in thousands.
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State A B C D E
Population 300 701 800 700 800
Number of seats 82
To determine which state illustrates the Alabama paradox in the given scenario, let's first understand what the Alabama paradox is.
The Alabama paradox is a phenomenon that occurs in apportionment when a state's overall representation decreases despite an increase in its population. This happens when the method used to allocate seats does not ensure each state an equal or fair share according to its population.
In this case, we have five states (A, B, C, D, and E) with their respective populations and a total of 82 seats to be apportioned. To determine which state illustrates the Alabama paradox, we need to calculate the population-to-seat ratio for each state.
The population-to-seat ratio is calculated by dividing the population of a state by the number of seats it currently has. The state with the highest population-to-seat ratio would be the one that potentially illustrates the Alabama paradox.
Let's calculate the population-to-seat ratio for each state:
State A B C D E
Population 300 701 800 700 800
Number of seats 82
Ratio 300/82 701/82 800/82 700/82 800/82
Calculating the ratios:
State A B C D E
Ratio 3.66 8.54 9.76 8.54 9.76
Based on the calculations, States C and E have the highest population-to-seat ratios of 9.76. Therefore, either State C or State E could potentially illustrate the Alabama paradox in this scenario.
It is important to note that without additional information about the specific methodology used to apportion seats, such as Hamilton's plan in this case, we cannot determine the exact outcome of apportionment or identify which state is affected by the Alabama paradox.