Fifty Equal U.S. States
Neil Freeman’s map imagining 50 U.S. states with equal populations, thereby equalizing congressional overrepresentation from small states and rural areas, is making the rounds of the blogosphere (and Twitterverse™) lately (see, for example, here); we first saw it five years ago, in Martin’s comment on this entry about maps with what-if political boundaries. Not that it isn’t worth unearthing for another look. Thanks to James for the tip.
Previously: Question: What-If Political Boundaries?; Pearcy’s 38 States.
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The problem is that this ignores the fact that the United States is a nation made up of 50 equal state members, all of which petitioned to join the union as separate states. It is not a nation which was subdivided into 50 states.
January 24, 2010 at 10:57 PM
The problem with the above comment is that is ignores the fact that it’s not a serious proposal to change the nation, but rather an exercise designed to challenge you to think about population density and political structure.
January 27, 2010 at 11:49 AM
The problems with this proposal are that Lincoln grew up in Indiana, not Illinois, so his name is in the wrong place, that votes don’t count in Chicago or New York so that’s only 48 voting bodies and 2 machines, and that rock & roll is completely ignored instead of made the central basis for the redistricting. As Hawaii is actually nowhere near Coronado, I’d suggest making it part of Michiana. Maybe that would encourage more of those hot Polynesian babes to visit us over here.
February 8, 2010 at 7:10 PM
I’m pretty sure Washington didn’t grow up in Washington either.
February 10, 2010 at 8:12 AM