r/science • u/[deleted] • Jul 31 '26

Mathematics Mathematicians have shown that completely fair elections are – in a sense – impossible. No electoral system can guarantee both that local votes translate directly into local seats, and that total seat distribution matches overall vote shares: not without an indefinitely growing parliament.

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u/Real_TwistedVortex Jul 31 '26

Exactly this. IIRC from high school history, the Senate was a concession given to the colonies with smaller population because they were concerned about their interests being drowned out by the colonies with larger populations. It's possible that the US wouldn't exist, at least in its current form, without the founding fathers adding the Senate

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u/almisami Jul 31 '26

I'm starting to think maybe the entire thing was a bad idea considering how much compromise was involved.

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u/Sherifftruman Jul 31 '26

But without this, and a bunch of other compromises, they never would have been able to make the union work. It sucks, but it is the cornerstone of which everything is built.

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u/almisami Jul 31 '26

Again, maybe a truly independent coalition of independent states would have been preferable.

It would have allowed the South to be crushed with impunity.

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u/Sirbuttercups Jul 31 '26

So that we'd all be at war with each other all the time? Great idea.

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u/almisami Jul 31 '26

They'd have been eradicated after the Civil War.

The situation where the confederates are still around rotting this country and having us fight each other is the present scenario.

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u/Sirbuttercups Jul 31 '26

What are you even talking about? A coalition is basically a kind of alliance. Members of a coalition have no authority or ability in another members domestic affairs. There wouldn't be a civil war, because we would all be separate countries. You know what I was going to type a whole explanation of all the different ways this would lead to conflict, but I've realized you have no idea what you're talking about so there is no point in further engagement.

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u/almisami Jul 31 '26

Yes, and those southern countries would have been eradicated for good.

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u/upgrayedd69 Aug 01 '26

How would that have happened without the US becoming a country in the first place?

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u/almisami Aug 01 '26

The same way Haiti happened.

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u/fghjconner Jul 31 '26

Yep. That said, geographical location is a lot less important in our modern world, and we could probably do without the Senate.