Final answer:
To answer the student's question, a program would tally states with senators sharing the same party. The program would need access to current political affiliation data and would compare senators by state. The outcome determines bipartisan unity or division in the Senate.
Step-by-step explanation:
To write a program that determines the number of states whose two senators have the same party affiliation, you would likely be using political party affiliation data from a relevant and recent source. Based on this information, the program would need to iterate through the list of senators, pair them by their respective states, and then check if their party affiliations match. If both senators from a state are either Democrats or Republicans, that state would be included in the count. Given that each state has two senators and they represent the needs of the entire state, they are crucial figures in the political landscape.
Referencing the provided data, such as the bipartisan composition of state legislatures or the political party of senators, would be instrumental in achieving this task. As of February 2021, there may have been thirty states with Republican state legislatures and eighteen with Democratic majorities, but this does not directly correlate to senatorial party affiliation, as senators represent the federal government level.
Using the count of senators by party and the states they represent, the program can output the final number of states with homogenous political party representation in the senate, which is a matter of interest in understanding the political gridlock or unity within the U.S. Senate.