Final answer:
Members of the U.S. Congress are allocated based on two chambers: the Senate, where each state receives two senators, and the House of Representatives, where representation is based on population determined every ten years via the Census, with a fixed total of 435 representatives.
Step-by-step explanation:
The allocation of members of Congress for each state is based on two different systems for the two chambers that make up Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. For the Senate, representation is straightforward; each state is allocated exactly two senators, making a total of 100 senators for the 50 states.
On the other hand, the House of Representatives is where the allocation gets more complex. House apportionment is strictly dependent on the population of the states. Every ten years, following a national Census, congressional apportionment is conducted using the equal proportions method to reallocate House seats. As a result, states with larger populations get more representatives, while every state is guaranteed at least one seat, even if its population is small.
Historically, the number of House members grew with the population but hit a cap of 435 members after the 1910 Census. This number can lead to shifts in the number of representatives among the states if population disparities change, as seen in the 1929 agreement. For example, after population increases observed in Southern and Western states like Texas, Florida, and California, additional representatives were allocated to these states whereas states like Pennsylvania, which experienced population decreases, saw a reduction in representatives.