Most oppose changing Senate' S allocation of seats, even when state population disparities are mentioned The Constitution requires that all states have two U.S. senators, the ofhow many people live in the state. Which comes closer to your view? (%) All states should continue to have two senators regardless of population Constitution should be amended SO larger pop. states have more senators times was many people was the state with the smallest population. Currently, the state with the largest population population. has about 66 times population. as many people as the state with the smallest population.
Survey experiments also allow researchers to measure how much context matters when asking a question. In an early 2018 survey, researchers asked one group of respondents whether the U.S. Senate should have two seats for every state, regardless of how many people live in the state. A second group of respondents received the same question but were given some additional context – specifically, that the population difference between the nation’s largest and smallest states had grown dramatically over time.
Most oppose changing Senate' S allocation of seats,  | even when state population disparities are mentioned  | The Constitution requires that all states have two U.S. senators,  | the ofhow many people live in the state. Which comes  | closer to your view? (%)  | All states should continue to have two senators regardless of population  | Constitution should be amended SO larger pop. states have more senators  | Total  | 24  | 75  | Additional context provided:  | When the first Congress met, the state with the largest population had about 10  | times was many people was the state with the smallest population. Currently, the  | state with the largest population population. has about 66 times population. as many people as the  | state with the smallest population.  | Total  | 29  | 68  | Notes: Respondents were randomly asked the question with or without the  | additional information. No answer not shown.  | Source: Survey of U SS adults conducted Jan. 29-Feb. 13, 2018  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 