proportional representation

noun

|Updated on: 11 Jul 2018

Definition of proportional representation

: an electoral system in which the number of seats held by a political group or party in a legislative body is determined by the number of popular votes received

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Recent Examples of proportional representation from the Web

Efforts to ensure that all communities (geographically as well as by race/ethnicity) will have proportional representation on leadership bodies are also critical.

— valerie strauss, Washington Post, "Back to the future: A new school district secession movement is gaining steam," 2 May 2018
This year’s vote is according to a new election law that is based on proportional representation.

— Washington Post, "Lebanon holds first elections in 9 years," 6 May 2018
That law was replaced this year with one awarding seats by proportional representation, but other complications worked to keep outsiders from taking a larger share.

— Washington Post, "Outsiders in Lebanon politics make a small win look big," 7 May 2018
That law was replaced this year with one awarding seats by proportional representation, but complications to the law worked to keep outsiders from taking a larger share.

— philip issa, Fox News, "Outsiders in Lebanon politics make a small win look big," 7 May 2018
This year’s vote was according to a new election law providing for proportional representation for the first time.

— washington post, BostonGlobe.com, "Lebanon votes, but few have hopes for change," 7 May 2018
In Atlanta, King's hometown, the proportional representation of black-to-white workers is close to even in many fields.

— bob salsberg and angeliki kastanis, chicagotribune.com, "Blacks largely left out of high-paying jobs," 2 Apr. 2018
In Atlanta, King's hometown, the proportional representation of black-to-white workers is close to even in many fields.

— bob salsberg and angeliki kastanis, USA TODAY, "Analysis: Blacks largely left out of high-paying jobs, government data shows," 2 Apr. 2018
In Atlanta, King's hometown, the proportional representation of black-to-white workers is close to even in many fields.

— bob salsberg and angeliki kastanis, chicagotribune.com, "Blacks largely left out of high-paying jobs," 2 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'proportional representation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of proportional representation

1870

in the meaning defined above

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PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION Defined for English Language Learners

proportional representation

noun

Definition of proportional representation for English Language Learners

: a system in which the number of seats held by members of a political party in a legislature (such as a parliament) is determined by the number of votes its candidates receive in an election