> Juho Laatu wrote: > > Do you mean that one individual vote > > practically never changes the result > > of a large election? > > > > One can see this from two viewpoints. > > 1) can I change the result > > 2) can I and similar minded people > > together change the result Raph Frank wrote: > Well, you only control yourself. For perspective: The influence of an individual vote on the results is expected to be different between private and public systems. The actual influence of a private vote is usually exactly zero. I guess it depends a little on the voting method, but it's almost always zero in FPTP.
On the other hand, the influence of a public vote is usually positive, though incalculable. It is incalculable because the weight of a public expression per se cannot be felt in a strictly subjective, individual context. It can only be felt in an inter-subjective, social context. Juho, you're perhaps making the opposite mistake? You look at private voting from an inter-subjective persepective. I don't think that's valid. The vote itself can have no influence on the behaviour of other voters. It typically has no influence at all, except on the voter herself. So it's purely subjective. (What's also interesting is the objective perspective of manipulation. But that means looking at the influence of money and power, and not votes per se.) -- Michael Allan Toronto, 647-436-4521 http://zelea.com/ ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
