> Stephane Rouillon> Sent: 16 October 2006 21:18 > > Sorry for asking a question most people already know, but > Is there any difference between STV and STV-PR systems or are > they simply two names for the same model? If not what is the > difference?
In a word, no. But as we all know, STV can be used in single-winner elections, when it will NOT give PR of anything, even when there are many single-winner elections, one in each single-member district. Fairshare (here in Scotland) adopted the term "STV-PR" during its campaign for STV-PR for local government elections because some opponents of PR jumped on the "STV" bandwagon to promote what we call the "Alternative Vote" and US reformers usually call "IRV", i.e. STV single-winner elections in each separate single-member district. (We have 32 local councils with 18 to 80 members.) We were concerned that public and media references to "STV" could be taken to mean what we did NOT want. Similarly, I avoid the term "PR" when referring to any specific voting system, because again, it suits some folk to blur the very clear distinction that exists between all forms of "Party PR" on the one hand and "STV-PR" on the other. It is, however, useful to use the generic term "proportional representation" (PR) when you are making a contrast with a non-PR voting system like plurality or IRV. James ---- election-methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
