2040?

BadTux is arguing that, because of shifting populations in coming decades, that the US is headed for a tyranny of the minority, as 70% of the population will reside in fifteen states. The depopulated states will have seventy Senators, the populated states only thirty.

Click on the link and read his post. Then come back.

While I agree that having 30% of the people control 70% of the Senate is a problem, I don't think it is as dire as BadTux posits.

First, keep in mind that seats in the House of Representatives are awarded to states based on their population. If 70% of the population lives in fifteen states, those states will have 305 seats in the House or Representatives.

Second, votes in the Electoral College are assigned to each state by the number of Congressmen, plus the number of Senators. The populous states will, therefor, have 335 electoral votes.

Third, almost every state chooses their electors on a "winner take all" basis statewide. If that holds true, then the voters in the cities will have a huge say in who becomes the President.

So the battle for the presidency in the future will be fought in states where there are large urban populations.

In short, the depopulated states will control the Senate, but that's all they'll control. They can fulfil the role of obstructionists, but they won't be able to move the needle much in their direction.

This is not a new problem. The Senate was set up so that the agrarian (and slave owning) Southern states would not get cut out of things. The entire point of the "three-fifths compromise" was to ensure that the South wasn't marginalized in the House. Jim Crow was a means to do even better; for African-Americans counted as full people for determining apportionment, but White Christian Terrorists ensured that they could not vote.

Despite the efforts of Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump to bring back Jim Crow, that's not going to happen. the pendulum will swing away from them and the Party of Trump.