Mathematics of Apportionment, or Why We Can't Have Nice Things (series unlisted)

Abstract: How are the delegates in the U.S. House of Representatives assigned? Why does Georgia get 14 while Alabama gets 7? What makes an apportionment method nice, how nice is the system we have now, and can we do better? Don't be too optimistic because (spoiler) we can't really have nice things. In this talk, we'll prove why there isn't a "perfect" system of apportionment. If time permits, we'll also look at voting systems and discover why we can't have nice things there either.

Mathematics

Audience: general audience

Pizza Seminar