Cite as: 503 U. S. 442 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
would have received only 2. The Webster method is also described as the "method of major fractions."
In 1850, Congress enacted legislation sponsored by Representative Vinton endorsing the approach that had been sponsored by Alexander Hamilton after the first census.22 Although this method was used during the balance of the 19th century, it occasionally seemed to produce paradoxical results.23 Congress rejected it in 1911, reverting to the Webster method. In that year Congress also passed legislation that ultimately fixed the number of Representatives at 435.24
After the 1920 census Congress failed to pass a reapportionment Act, but debates over the proper method of apportionment ultimately led to a request to the National Academy of Sciences to appoint a committee of experts to review the subject. That committee, composed of respected mathematicians, recommended the adoption of the "method of equal proportions." Congress used that method in its ap-22 Act of May 23, 1850, §§ 24-26, 9 Stat. 432-433. Under the Hamilton/ Vinton method, the Nation's population was divided by the size of the House (set at 233 in 1850) to determine the ratio of persons per Representative. This ratio was then divided into the population of a State to establish its quota. Each State would receive the number of Representatives corresponding to the whole number of the quota (ignoring the fractional remainders). The remaining seats necessary to bring the nationwide total to the proper size (233 in 1850) would then be distributed to the States with the largest fractional remainders. In practice, the method was not strictly followed. See Balinski & Young 37; Chafee, Congressional Reapportionment, 42 Harv. L. Rev. 1015, 1025 (1929).
23 The Hamilton/Vinton method was subject to the "Alabama paradox," a mathematical phenomenon in which a State's number of Representatives may decrease when the size of the House is increased. See Balinski & Young 38-40; Chafee, Congressional Reapportionment, 42 Harv. L. Rev., at 1026.
24 The 1911 statute actually specified 433 Representatives but authorized an additional Representative for Arizona and New Mexico when they were admitted to the Union. See 37 Stat. 13. Additional Representatives were also authorized when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union in 1959, but the number thereafter reverted to 435, where it has remained ever since. See 72 Stat. 345; 73 Stat. 8.
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