Abstract
For half a century, the analysis of the size of national assemblies was dominated by the famous cube-root relation with the population. However, a revisitation of that historical work with a physicist’s approach reveals basic conceptual problems that fatally undermine its conclusions. Furthermore, the assembly size evaluation exceeds the accuracy of all power equations, which cannot be reliably used for political analysis.
Highlights
Could the “optimal” size for the national assembly of a country be evaluated with methods similar to physics research? This is a timely question: the debate about insufficient representation at the federal and state levels is raging in the USA
There were recent initiatives to reduce the number of representatives in the national parliaments of many countries, including France, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom
The solid line is the best fit given by Eq 3, whereas the dashed line is the fit with a cube-root law, leading to Eq 4
Summary
Could the “optimal” size for the national assembly of a country be evaluated with methods similar to physics research? This is a timely question: the debate about insufficient representation at the federal and state levels is raging in the USA. The analysis of the size of national assemblies was dominated by the famous cube-root relation with the population. Could the “optimal” size for the national assembly of a country be evaluated with methods similar to physics research?
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
