Word: The anti-democratic structure of the Senate

Jamelle Bouie, NY Times -    In 1790, the largest state was Virginia, with 747,610 people, and the smallest was Delaware, with 59,094 people. Because of the Senate’s equal representation of states, Delawareans had more than 12 times the voting power of Virginians — a large disparity, but not a yawning one. Today, the largest state is California, with nearly 40 million residents, and the smallest is Wyoming, with just under 600,000 people, a disparity that gives a person in Wyoming 67 times the voting power of one in California.

These population disparities will only get worse. By 2040, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, half the population will live in eight states, with eight other states representing the next 20 percent of the population. The remaining 34 states will hold 30 percent of the population. In the Senate, this would give them 68 seats. Over all, half the country’s population would control 84 of the 100 seats in the chamber.