The design of the US Senate is weighted towards representing the views of largely white, conservative Americans

The United States Senate represents almost 330 million people across 100 seats. But with two seats per state, which can have dramatically different populations, the body is far from equally representative. In new research, Richard Johnson explores a hypothetical alternative version of the Senate, one where a state’s representation is allocated according to its population. He finds that such a Senate would reverse the outcomes of many key voters in Democrats’ favor, including on bills relating to LGBT rights, abortion, and gun control. The thought experiment, he writes, shows that the malapportionment of the current Senate makes it easier for Republican presidents to pursue their objectives.