Project number: K128573

How to grant two scholarships in a fair way when there are 5 economics and 5 engineer applicants? It would natural to assume that the best of each field gests the grant, so that the allocation is 1-1. What if the ratio of applications is 6:4? Or 7:3? And if we give out four grants? In general we aim at proportionality in such situations, but exact proportionality is not
always possible. Apportionment methods determine it precisely how many grants should go to each of the fields. The apportionment of constituencies among counties, regions or states is similar. For instance, an apportionment method is used to allocate the seats of the House of Representatives of the United States. The method used there reached its current form after
a century-long evolution – it is therefore rather surprising that this method does not even meet the general and very mild recommendations of the Venice Commission. In other countries it seems that proportionality was purposely distorted. The goal of this research is to better explore and understand these contradictions.