Title: Countermajoritarianism in the House of Representatives
Department: Government
Description: Countermajortiarian in Congress is a perpetual concern for scholars and observers alike. Several studies have demonstrated that, on a growing proportion of Senate roll call votes, senators on the majority side actually represent a numerical minority of the American people. To many this is a highly concerning trend, but the literature on the subject is lopsided: not enough attention has been paid to the House of Representatives. While the Senate's equal state representation radically increases the chances of countermajoritarian outcomes, House districts have never been equal in population either. Thus, this project will attempt to fill a vacuum in the literature by creating a dataset of House district population estimates going back to 1788 and using it to gauge the prevalence and characteristics of countermajoritarian outcomes in the House. The project will greatly contribute to our understanding of American politics and the nature and frequency of democratic outcomes.
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Advisor: Larry Evans
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