The Hamilton Plan

It was proposed by Alexander Hamilton and was the first plan to be approved by US Congress in 1790.
President George Washington vetoed the plan, so it was used only after the US government census from
1850 to 1900.

Under this plan, the total population of the country is divided by the required number of
representatives. The result is called the standard divisor, which gives the number of citizens represented
by each representative.

total population
Standad Divisor ( d )= apportion ¿
number of people ¿
Dividing the population of each state by the standard divisor, the whole number part of the quotient is
called the standard quota. The standard quota is the allocated number of representatives from each
state. Now, if the sum of standard quotas is not equal to the required number of representatives to the
state with the largest decimal quotient. This process is continued until the sum of standard quotas
equals the required number of representatives.

Example

Suppose the Galactic Republic has 5 states, namely, Naboo, Tatooine, Scarif, Mustafar, and Jedha. The
population of each state is shown in the table below. The Galactic constitution requires 40
representatives to be chosen from these states. Use Hamilton plan to determine the number of
representatives to be apportioned to each state based on their respective populations.

STATE POPULATION

Naboo 22,185
Tatooine 10,534
Scarif 1,958
Mustafar 11,346
Jedha 3,977
Total 50,000
Solution: Calculate the standard divisor by dividing the total population by the required number of
representatives.

50,000
d=
40
d=1,250
Calculate the standard quota of each state; that is, divide the population of each state by the standard
divisor.

STATE POPULATION QUOTIENT STANDARD QUOTA

Naboo 22,185 17.748 17

Tatooine 10,354 8.427 8
Scarif 1,985 1.566 1
Mustafar 11,346 9.077 9
Jedha 3,977 3.182 3
Total 38

The sum of the standard quotas is 2 less than the required number of representatives; hence, we assign
additional one representative to each state with the largest decimal remainder. In this case, we add one
representative each to Naboo and Scariff.

STANDARD NUMBER OF
STATE POPULATION QUOTIENT
QUOTA REPRESENTATIVES
Naboo 22,185 17.748 17 18
Tatooine 10,354 8.427 8 8
Scarif 1,985 1.566 1 2
Mustafar 11,346 9.077 9 9
Jedha 3,977 3.182 3 3
Total 38 40