[Winona Online Democracy]
I just read an interesting article in the November issue of Discover
magazine.
http://www.discover.com/current_issue/index.html
click on Recent Issues
scroll down to the bottom in Features for the Nov. issue and click on
the article --
""May The Best Man Lose
This month's presidential election highlights an ugly truth about
American politics: The most popular candidates, like John McCain,
often don't get elected. The problem, mathematicians say, lies in our
voting system itself.
By Dana Mackenzie ""
Our online dem. forum has been discussing, as has most Americans, many
aspects of the voting process and the Electoral College. This article
comes from mathematicians. Our system of voting is called the
'plurality system'. A weakness of it is in a quote from the article
attributed to a French friend of Jefferson's in 1793-
"The apparent will of the plurality may in fact be the complete
opposite of their true will."
Other methods exist such as rank ordering the candidates or voting for
all the candidates you want to. Sounds crazy - but mathematically it
works.
I loved the true story about the 1991 Governor's race in Louisiana
when the bumper stickers said -
"Vote for the crook: It's important". David Duke almost became their
governor!
I am no mathematician but I did understand the logic of our need to
have a different selection method.
My guts tell me the same thing. Interesting that the scientific
societies mentioned have changed their voting methods.
Another quote I loved from the article was from the original creator
of one of the alternative methods when asked about those who would
cheat the system to obtain their own ends --
"My system is only for honest men."
True of any selection system - I'd say.
I liked the author's suggestion that alternative methods need to be
tried in smaller ways and more personal ways to get us used to it. I
have been involved with using a consensus model in small and large
community groups and the results are most often better than a
plurality vote. I remember the heated debates against a consensus
model concerning how the Middle School decision making took place. I
guess this touches some very sensitive nerves - much like any
discussion of politics, religion and your favorite football team. I
think the two parties have way too much control over who we get to
vote for and these other voting methods would help overcome that
control. Emotion and bias often control the big decisions, and will
on this as well. But, I hope we keep trying to make things better.
Please take a look at this article and the effort a man named Brams
made in the early '80s to create a voting reform movement. That
failed. The anger, pain, frustration, etc. of this election could be
an opportunity to revive that effort. Hey -- How can you argue with
Mathematicians?
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