Baker V. Carr - One Person One Vote

[Online Professor]

Equal Representation or Propostional Representation

The Senate of the United States was based on equal representation and the House was based proportional representation 

The principle of one person one vote applies to representation in the House, but the principle of equal representation applies in the senate.

This compromise prevented the large states from dominating the small states. The states had the authority to apportion their state legislatures. Most of the states decided on an Senate to represent the counties and as Assembly represented the people.

In a bicameral legislature there are two separate houses, one representing the states and one representing the people. The states now have a unicameral legislature with two houses representing one constituency. This arrangement is not an example of a republican form of government. 

Apportionment in the legislatures of the states was not mentioned in the Constitution and the it was a power reserved to the states.

The Supreme Court ruled that the apportionment in the state legislatures must be based on population. They ruled that it was unconstitutional for the states to provide the counties with equal representation in the states. They did not rule that the principle of one man one vote applied representation at the federal level.

Why does the principle of one person one vote apply at the state level, but does not apply to Congress.

[Online Professor]

Rank	State	2018 Population		% of US
1	California	39,776,830		12.13%
2	Texas	28,704,330		8.75%
3	Florida	21,312,211		6.50%
4	New York	19,862,512		6.06%
5	Pennsylvania	12,823,989		3.91%
6	Illinois	12,768,320		3.89%
7	Ohio	11,694,664		3.57%
8	Georgia	10,545,138		3.21%
9	North Carolina	10,390,149		3.17%
10	Michigan	9,991,177		3.05%
11	New Jersey	9,032,872		2.75%
12	Virginia	8,525,660		2.60%
13	Washington	7,530,552		2.30%
14	Arizona	7,123,898		2.17%
15	Massachusetts	6,895,917		2.10%
16	Tennessee	6,782,564		2.07%
17	Indiana	6,699,629		2.04%
18	Missouri	6,135,888		1.87%
19	Maryland	6,079,602		1.85%
20	Wisconsin	5,818,049		1.77%
21	Colorado	5,684,203		1.73%
22	Minnesota	5,628,162		1.72%
23	South Carolina	5,088,916		1.55%
24	Alabama	4,888,949		1.49%
25	Louisiana	4,682,509		1.43%
26	Kentucky	4,472,265		1.36%
27	Oregon	4,199,563		1.28%
28	Oklahoma	3,940,521		1.20%
29	Connecticut	3,588,683		1.09%
30	Iowa	3,160,553		0.96%
31	Utah	3,159,345		0.96%
32	Nevada	3,056,824		0.93%
33	Arkansas	3,020,327		0.92%
34	Mississippi	2,982,785		0.91%
35	Kansas	2,918,515		0.89%
36	New Mexico	2,090,708		0.64%
37	Nebraska	1,932,549		0.59%
38	West Virginia	1,803,077		0.55%
39	Idaho	1,753,860		0.53%
40	Hawaii	1,426,393		0.43%
41	New Hampshire	1,350,575		0.41%
42	Maine	1,341,582		0.41%
43	Montana	1,062,330		0.32%
44	Rhode Island	1,061,712		0.32%
45	Delaware	971,180		0.30%
46	South Dakota	877,790		0.27%
47	North Dakota	755,238		0.23%
48	Alaska	738,068		0.22%
49	District of Columbia	703,608		0.21%
50	Vermont	623,960		0.19%
51	Wyoming	573,720		0.17%

California has 2 senators and a population of 39,776,830 

if rerpesentation in the senate was based on population California would have 12 senators and

Wyoming has 2 senators and a population of 573,720