[EM] 120 Seats

[Brian Olson]

As far as I know, the various factorial properties of the size of a  
legislative body don't have much affect on the electoral or  
functional properties of such a group.

The size of a Single Transferrable Vote - Proportional Representation  
legislature affects the degree to which people go unrepresented by  
any of their ballot choices. I think the formula is that about 1/(N 
+1) fraction of the population go unrepresented for N seats elected.

I heard that a study of the social habits and brain structure of  
primates indicates that the natural size of a human tribe is around  
150 based on the size of the part of our brain that handles social  
interaction and it's ability to keep our acquaintances managed.

Larger groups are harder to have productive discussions within.  
Smaller groups can give too much power to individuals.

I tend to think in base 10, and think 100 is a nice round number, and  
the present size of the US Senate, therefore a "normal" number for a  
legislature.

Pulling a proposal out of a hat, I think a group of 60 serving 6 year  
terms, electing 20 every other year sounds like a good plan. If you  
like 120 we could elect 40 every other year. I think electing 20 at a  
time will keep the ballot length to a more manageable size.

But that's just what I think, I could be wrong.

Brian Olson
http://bolson.org/