155
votes
Accepted
Why did the population of Bhutan drop by 70% between 2007 and 2008?
The article on Bhutan in the English-language Wikipedia has this explanation:
The population of Bhutan had been estimated based on the reported figure of about 1 million in the 1970s when the ...
- 5,782
85
votes
Why do constitutions not incorporate a clause on population control?
A vast majority of modern states don't have a explicit constitutional
clause on population control either (that I am aware of). It seems
fair to surmise that it is the consensus of the majority of
...
- 73k
56
votes
To what extent can the Russian war in Ukraine be seen as an attempt to resolve a food crisis?
Securing the food supply of the population is not a problem for Russia. The Russian agricultural industry does pretty well. While it did decline a lot shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ...
- 74.8k
52
votes
Why is China worried about population decline?
A rapid population decline due to low birth rates leads to the situation where you eventually have a lot of old people, and very few young ones. This in turn can mean that either old people can't ...
- 12.7k
39
votes
Accepted
Why is the population of post-Soviet states declining?
Economic migration (temporary or more permanent) is considered the main factor. This is quite apparent in the Eastern EU countries. Note that the official EU terminology is "mobility" not migration, ...
- 145k
35
votes
Accepted
Why do constitutions not incorporate a clause on population control?
I guess one significant reason is that it is not deemed necessary. Two important statistics in population growth are
Total fertility rate, roughly the number of children a woman is expected to have ...
- 4,128
34
votes
Accepted
Why do all states have equal representation in the U.S. Senate, regardless of population?
Because it was a compromise struck at the Constitutional Convention between the large colonies like Virginia and New York, and the smaller colonies like Connecticut and Rhode Island that all states ...
- 8,859
30
votes
Why is China worried about population decline?
The problem is primarily a demographic one.
In most systems, children pay for the sustainment and health costs of their parents and grandparents one way or the other because old people typically ...
- 1,925
29
votes
Why do constitutions not incorporate a clause on population control?
Reproductive rights are considered basic human rights and trying to restrict them violates those rights. When China adopted the one child policy some considered it a human rights violation as it put ...
- 15.4k
28
votes
Has there been any country that successfully reversed a demographic decline in recent history?
The population of Germany declined from 2000 to 2011, it then increased.
This rise has been attributed to immigration. One way for a country to increase population, without increasing fertility, is ...
- 115k
27
votes
Has there been any country that successfully reversed a demographic decline in recent history?
This answer is only looking at fertility rates, not other measures, such as immigration.
Also, when looking at fertility rates take into account that 2.1 is the neutral no-increase/no-decrease rate
...
27
votes
To what extent can the Russian war in Ukraine be seen as an attempt to resolve a food crisis?
It's also incorrect to claim Russia was a food importer during the latter Romanov times:
If Russia as a food importer is the old story, a new development has occurred that makes this book relevant. ...
- 145k
23
votes
In the United States, can the distribution of congressional representatives be adjusted in response to dramatic population shifts?
The text of Article I states (with my emphasis):
... The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent ...
- 115k
17
votes
Why is the population of post-Soviet states declining?
I'll preface this answer by saying that Initially I intended to gather data in support of my initial speculation: that population decline is due to economic migration. After gathering data I have ...
- 1,549
17
votes
Why is China worried about population decline?
It's important to remember that to just maintain a population you need an average of 2.1 births
Assuming no net migration and unchanged mortality, a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman ...
- 45.6k
16
votes
Accepted
Does the Senate violate Reynolds v Sims?
Reynolds vs Sims was decided based on the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which only governs the states
The Equal Protection clause reads
nor shall any State ... deny to any ...
- 2,007
13
votes
Why is China worried about population decline?
Other answers have talked about the social welfare aspects (taking care of old people).
There are also harder-nosed issues with a quickly aging and shrinking population. Remember that China perceives ...
11
votes
How do you explain the change in population ratio of Germany vs. Switzerland since 1945?
Population change is a function of birth rate, death rate and net migration.
Birth rates have declined in both Germany and Switzerland (at almost identical rates), but Switzerland has had more ...
- 73k
11
votes
Why is the population of post-Soviet states declining?
I think that the other answers miss the main point, which is not migration away from the country, but rather the lack of migration into the country. The population is decreasing practically everywhere ...
- 221
11
votes
Does the Senate violate Reynolds v Sims?
No. The Reynolds v. Sims case applies strictly to State governments. The structure of the Senate is clearly described in the Constitution (indeed the "two Senators per State is one of the only ...
- 115k
11
votes
Why do constitutions not incorporate a clause on population control?
Because such provisions would be widely unpopular. Most people seem to believe that it is their natural right to reproduce without limit, at least as long is it's "them" doing it. That is, ...
- 12.5k
10
votes
Accepted
How abnormal is Vermont's Democratic lean considering its rurality?
Pretty abnormal, and certainly the best example of an exception to the traditional wisdom of urban/democrat, rural/republican. Using the 2016 state-level results, as well as the results of the rural/...
CDJB♦
- 105k
10
votes
Why is the population of post-Soviet states declining?
Almost all European countries have below-replacement birth rates - that is, less than 2 births per woman on average, assuming approximately equal numbers of each gender.
This follows an ongoing trend ...
- 7,552
10
votes
Accepted
Are there any statistics on the distribution of world-wide population according to the height over Sea Level
The paper Hypsographic demography: The distribution of human population by altitude by Joel E. Cohen and Christopher Small looked at exactly this.
The global distribution of the human population by ...
- 3,038
9
votes
What happens to a country that runs out of population?
Nature abhors vacuum. If a population of certain country is so decadent that it cannot ensure natural replacement even if there is no natural or human made catastrophe ( earthquake, war, ...
- 3,385
9
votes
Why hasn't Indian Govt still taken a step to slow down the rate of population growth in India?
This is a late answer, but I will try to answer from a different perspective.
The Government has actually tried to control the overpopulation - Wikipedia tells us that:
India's state of emergency ...
- 52.6k
9
votes
Why is China worried about population decline?
As a supplement to all the other answers, I want to point out that population decline is a concern for most countries that are experiencing it, not just China. See:
Latvia
Croatia
Russia
Singapore
...
- 32.4k
8
votes
Accepted
What policies have been discussed or implemented to tackle Celibacy Syndrome in Japan
"Celibacy syndrome" was a term coined by a journalist for a 2013 article the article combined two popular "click-bait" topics: "Sex" and "Weird Japan". The data used to support the existence of such a ...
- 115k
7
votes
In the United States, can the distribution of congressional representatives be adjusted in response to dramatic population shifts?
Congress may pass laws to reappportion set the count of house seats and reapportion the states based on the Census when Congress cares to. Since 1929, there has been a "permanent apportionment&...
- 367
7
votes
Why do constitutions not incorporate a clause on population control?
I think the key consideration is that constitutions are, by their very nature, not easy to change. The US Constitution, for example, requires 2/3 of each House of Congress, and 3/4 of the individual ...
- 27.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible