Cube root is said to be proper number of members for a national government

Cube root of population is said to be proper number of members for a national government.

That figure is sometimes exceeded in small nations but is almost always never achieved in large countries.

Canada's national government, with its House of Commons about to be increased to about 342, is just in line with the cube root of population.

Pop. Cube root Cube of

number Members of pop. LH members

U.S.A. 331M 435 (lower house) 100 (Senate) 692 82M

64M 400

Canada 40M 338 (lower house) Senate 342 38.6M

(Canada's House of Commons is almost exactly cube root!)

Iraq 40M 329 (lower house) 342 35.6M

9.3M 210

Austria 9M 183 208 6.128M

Switzerland 8.7M 200 (exceeds cube root) 206

Serbia 8.7M 250 (exceeds cube root) 206 15.6M

Bulgaria 6.9M 240 (exceeds cube root) 190 13.8M

ISRAEL

120 is basically fixed in Israel. It is a reference to an old size of a Jewish council about two and a half thousand years ago. It´s an even number so may produce a tie vote in the chamber (unless the speaker is one of the members and cannot vote).

The chamber is relatively small for a country of nearly 8 million people.

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