Presumably because they'd want something that another union state provides, and/or benefits that comes with being a larger country rather than an small independ

Presumably because they'd want something that another union state provides, and/or benefits that comes with being a larger country rather than an small independent one. A union can't really be "equal" between all states unless all states contribute and benefit equally, and you can't really expect millions of people who live in a prosperous and populous state to be willing to discount their own voices so that the voices of those who may contribute less count far more than theirs. I'm not sure a perfect system exists -- it's all a series of tradeoffs, and a popular vote system would have its own -- but saying that the 700k people living in Alaska should have the exact same influence as the 40 million people living in California doesn't make things any better. Ultimately, a country is made up of people, not political entities.