What principle is illustrated by dividing a country or province into constituencies or ridings based on population?

The principle illustrated by dividing a country or province into constituencies or ridings based on population is representation by population. This principle ensures that electoral districts are created to reflect the number of people living in those areas, allowing each person's vote to carry an equal weight in the democratic process.

As populations grow or shift, constituency boundaries can be redrawn to maintain fair representation, ensuring that areas with larger populations have more representatives in the legislative assembly. This is fundamental to a democratic system, as it promotes equity and fairness in how citizens are represented, enabling their voices to be heard proportionally based on their numbers.

In contrast, direct democracy refers to systems where citizens vote on laws and policies themselves rather than electing representatives. The concept of an electoral college involves a group of electors who are chosen to vote on behalf of a larger body (common in presidential elections in certain countries), and majority rule is a principle that dictates that the decision that has the most support among a group is taken as the final decision, regardless of population considerations in electoral districts. Each of these concepts highlights different aspects of governance and political representation, but representation by population specifically addresses the equitable distribution of political power based on the number of constituents.