On 2/21/12 1:45 PM, Richard Fobes wrote:
[pulled out of message below]
On 2/20/2012 5:18 AM, Raph Frank wrote:
...
> I assume you mean campaign contribution reform? That isn't actually
> an election method.
Nope.
As I see it, using better ballots and better counting methods will cut
the puppet strings that connect politicians to their biggest campaign
contributors.
boy, that's certainly not a tautology. you sure the apples and oranges
are not independent axis. i don't see IRV or Condorcet or SODA or
whatever is the flavor of the month changing the pressure to spend money
on getting one's message out (and possibly jack-hammering it into the
heads of the gullible). if a major candidate does not spend money of
visibility and the opportunity to frame the debate and promote the
campaign's message, that candidate's opponents (who are also a major
party with access to money).
What will reform it is coercive law limiting contributions and spending
(not likely in the U.S. until some nasty Supreme Court justices die and
go away) and transparency so that we can all watchdog each other.
The main reason money matters so much (in politics) is that money can
be used to win elections through vote splitting
no, sometimes money is used to reverse votes, even in multiparty or
simple two-party contexts. campaigns and PACs can pour a truckload of
money on top of a race both to convert voters away from a major
candidate's major opponent, but also to shift votes from a minor
candidate to this candidate.
(in primary elections), gerrymandering (which affects general
elections), and media influence. Vote splitting and gerrymandering
will disappear when well-designed voting methods are used. Then money
won't matter as much. (Media influence will continue, but voters can
ignore it.)
but they can't ignore saturation advertising. gotta be deaf to ignore a
jack-hammer. that's what money can pay for no matter what the election
method is.
--
r b-j [email protected]
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
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