The Hamilton Apportionment Method Is Between the Adams Method and the Jefferson Method

The Adams apportionment method is the only divisor method that consistently favors small districts relative to the Hamilton method. The Jefferson method is the only divisor method that favors large districts relative to the Hamilton method. These statements hold for the Balinski and Young (1978) interpretation of “favoring small/large districts,” and for the partial “majorization ranking” introduced by Marshall et al. (2002). As such, Hamilton is positioned in between Adams and Jefferson.