Symmetrical representation
Topic: Parliament: Composition, Powers and Law-making · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Legislature"
Meaning
Symmetrical representation means every unit of a federation (such as each state) gets the same number of seats in the upper House, whatever its population. A small state has as much voice as a big one. The aim is to protect smaller units from being outvoted by larger ones.
Example
The US Senate has two senators from every state, large or small. India did not choose this. The Fourth Schedule gives Rajya Sabha seats mostly by population, so Uttar Pradesh has 31 seats and Sikkim has 1.
Don't confuse with
- Population-based allocation: seats rise with population, as in India's Rajya Sabha. Germany's Bundesrat uses population bands, which is also not symmetrical.