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Bill: DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146
Details
Submitted by[?]: Genuine Progress Alliance
Status[?]: passed
Votes: This bill asks for an amendement to the Constitution. It will require two-thirds of the legislature to vote in favor. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: June 3147
Description[?]:
| This bill aims to give all 5 provinces in Aloria equal representation in the Senate. We do not wish to give any province an advantage or disadvantage in the Senate. Apart from that, the current census states that there is little difference between the population of the five Alorian provinces. We want to give each province an equal voice in Aloria, and we do not wish to create an "imperialist" province due to the number of their representatives. ========== Transcript of the speech by Senator James Matthew Ziburu (GPA-Sildar): "Ladies and gentlemen, please take a good look at the population statistics of the five provinces as of April 3146: (1) Kurmal - 19,819,882 (19.89%) (2) Krentori - 19,911,121 (19.98%) (3) Sildar - 19,961,267 (20.03%) (4) Ultran - 19,981,154 (20.05%) (5) Gavonshire - 19,990,334 (20.06%) As you can see, all of the five provinces fall within the range of 19,800,000 - 20,000,000. Also, the difference between Gavonshire and Kurmal, which currently have the highest and lowest population, respectively, is only 170,452. The percentage of the Alorian population in the provinces also fall within the range of 19 to 20 percent. As such, we believe that there is little difference in the population of the two provinces. Also, let us consider the census of the country based on the March 3144 election data (http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews.php?newsid=303193): (1) Sildar - 19,831,165 (19.90%) (2) Kurmal - 19,926,742 (20.00%) (3) Gavonshire - 19,933,909 (20.01%) (4) Ultran 19,958,576 (20.03%) (5) Krentori 19,981,783 (20.06%) Note that in this year, the highest and lowest provinces are Krentori and Sildar, respectively. As a result, the number of Senate seats allocated in every election cycle for every province will always be different and unstable. Also, the percentage of each population is only within the range of 19 to 20 percent. As such, I believe that we should proceed with having an equal representation of every province in the Senate." |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change The method used to determine the number of seats each region receives in the national legislature.
Old value:: A proportional algorithm that gives a very small advantage to larger regions.
Current: A pseudo-proportional algorithm that gives considerable advantage to smaller regions.
Proposed: Equal representation, regardless of region population.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 04:30:28, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Social Democrats Union | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | No, each region should have the amount of constituencies they deserve by population. Regions/Provinces/States with larger populations shall get more constituencies as the constituencies are divided and drawn up based on the population of the area. This is the fairest way of voting in an election. |
| Date | 05:08:32, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Genuine Progress Alliance | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | But let's consider the statistics for a moment. We can see that the percentage of the population in every province from the total population in Aloria is unstable. For instance, Sildar had the lowest seat count in the Senate at the moment with 149 seats. This is because it only got 19.90% of the Alorian population during the election period. But in our recent statistics, it now has 20.03% of the Alorian population, which would've qualified it for 150 seats if elections were held today. On the other hand, Kurmal, which currently has 150 seats, would be down to 149 seats if elections were held today since it now has 19.89% of the population of Aloria. With the population count in Aloria being currently unstable and with the provinces in Aloria having very little difference as far as population is concerned, we do not think it would be logical for us to have the proportional algorithm for the Senate at the moment. It would've been different if the population was similar to what we had in a past election in 2922, wherein one would see a huge difference in the population between the five provinces: http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews.php?newsid=255824 |
| Date | 05:18:58, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Genuine Progress Alliance | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | And in relation to that, the elections that took place before it (2918) was also consistent in the provincial population percentage: http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews.php?newsid=254822 If you would look at our last three elections, however, you would see that the percentage and rankings of the provincial populations are very inconsistent: August 3137 - http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews.php?newsid=302081 March 3140 - http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews.php?newsid=302389 March 3144 - http://classic.particracy.net/viewnews.php?newsid=303193 Also, because there is little difference in the population, the difference in the seats among the five provinces would only be by one or two seats, like what we currently have in the Senate. Until a stable population trend is established in the provinces and/or a significant difference in the provincial population will reflect in the statistics, then we should use the equal representation formula at the moment. |
| Date | 06:07:29, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Social Democrats Union | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | I understand where you're coming from and you raise good points, but what will be the benefits of equal representation? I really do believe constituencies should be divided up based on the population, not equally regardless of population. |
| Date | 06:39:15, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Genuine Progress Alliance | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | With equal representation in the current context, a province won't have the upper hand over another province simply because they have 100,000 more people. This would likely reduce competition among the provinces over getting an advantage in the Senate seats since, as I mentioned, the population trend is still unstable at the moment. If people really want it, we can always revert back to proportional algorithm if there is a consistent population trend already as to which province is most populous and least populous. That was what happened in the past with Ultran being the most populous and Gavonshire being the least populous. I'm also concerned with the imperialist and dominating attitude that a province would have since they have more seats. More seats would mean more projects for that province and easier means of approval. Besides, if the provincial seats among the five provinces is between 149 to 151, why don't we just make it 150 so that provinces won't have this concept of populating itself to gain an advantage in the next election? |
| Date | 06:43:03, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Genuine Progress Alliance | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | Again, we go back to the population trend. In one election, one province has the highest population. In the next, it has the lowest population. As the population percentage declined during that time period, that province still enjoys the highest number of seats even though it's now supposed to have lesser seats because of the decline. |
| Date | 09:40:22, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Social Democrats Union | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | After considering this, you have won me over GPA as the populations of the regions are very similar and hence in this context, there should be equal representation. |
| Date | 19:28:55, July 05, 2011 CET | From | Genuine Progress Alliance | To | Debating the DEBATE: Equality of the Senate Composition Act of 3146 |
| Message | Sorry for not taking out the word "DEBATE" in the title. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | ||||
| yes |
Total Seats: 618 | ||||
| no | Total Seats: 0 | ||||
| abstain |
Total Seats: 0 |
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