The mix and match quality of Approval (that Alex so eloquently describes below) is one reason that I prefer PAV to STV.
Forest On Wed, 27 Mar 2002, [iso-8859-1] Alex Small wrote: <snip> > On the topic of Approval and "Centrist Weasels": > > One nice thing about Approval is that a centrist who decided to take firm > stands on issues, but side with the Dems on some issues and the GOP on > others (e.g. fiscally conservative/socially liberal, or fiscally > liberal/socially conservative) would do quite well. His supporters might > cast "cross-over votes" for the Dem or Republican, but they would likely > divide more or less evenly. On the other hand, any Dem or Republican who > cast a cross-over vote would likely vote for the independent. > > The reason I call that a nice thing is NOT my own bias toward fiscally > conservative/socially liberal candidates. The nice thing I see is the > chance to (a) mix-and-match issues, resulting in more freedom of choice, > and (b) break away from the left-right spectrum. > > If most candidates conform to one of two molds, it's easy to get > polarization and acrimony. You get Senators reflexively rejecting people > nominated by the president based largely on party affiliation. You get > those cable news channels where they bring in a liberal and conservative to > shout at one another on any given issue. You get lowest-common-denominator > policy rather than best-of-both-worlds policy. > > It's likely that the guy appearing on Fox News tonight to yell in favor of > gun control will appear on MSNBC tomorrow to yell against oil drilling in > Alaska. Nothing wrong with either position, but the predictability and > polarization is bothersome. If I can predict most people's stance on a tax > proposal based on what they think of abortion, it signals that there's > really very little discussion or thought in America, because the lines have > been drawn. > > A system that helped candidates who mix-and-match issues from the two > traditional camps might bring in truly new and innovative ideas. I truly > believe that America would be a better place if we could just break the > duopoly and bring in fresh new ideas, or at least innovative combinations > of old ideas. > > Alex > >
