Proportional representation and fair representation in the European Parliament.

The arguments of electoral reformers for proportional representation assume that fairness in the allocation of Parliamentary seats (relative to votes won) leads to fairness in the distribution of political power. Similar arguments underlie the case for proportional representation of countries (relative to population) in the European Parliament. Analyses of the latter show that the assumption is false: an equitable allocation of seats does not produce an equitable allocation of bargaining power. -Author