[EM] Democracy Chronicles, introductions - Michael Allan
Mr. Allan and colleagues, I have posted here a draft of Mr. Allan's interview article with an introduction written by me. If you have any questions, comments or edits please let me know. Mr. Allan, if you have any pictures you would like to include please let me know. Mr. Fobes interview should be finished and posted on Democracy Chronicles soon. Thank you again for your help. The article will look like this: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Election Method Reformer Seeks Radical Changes Can a More Direct Form of Democracy be Built in Canada or the US? In continuation of Democracy Chronicles' series of interviews with prominent members involved with "The Declaration of Election-Method Reform Advocates", we now turn to our first internationally based election method expert, Michael Allan an independent software engineer (LINK). Toronto based Michael Allan is an important member of the unique online forum of election-method experts where fascinating discussions of democratic reform are taking place(LINK). He is also one of the members of the forum who has not signed the Declaration for reasons he explains below. Mr. Allan works in collaborative and social media through his website Zelea.com. He also is a main contributor at the Votorola website that builds "social software in support of non-party primary elections and public rule making" (LINK). Mr. Allan works with his collegues at Votorola to "develop the tools to enable a radically free democracy based on unrestricted voting, drafting and discussion." The website supports a wide range of fascinating activity "everything from voter registration in electoral districts to consensus making" and has produced original voting technology not seen anywhere else. Interview With Michael Allan: DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES: You have not signed the Declaration, why? Mr. Allan: Unfortunately the proposed reforms do not address what I consider the most important requirements, namely that the elector must actually have a vote, and the vote must have a meaningful effect. DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES:Briefly explain what characteristics you think are most important for a voting method to have? Mr. Allan: (a) The elector must actually have a vote in the sense of its form and content being under the elector's control at all times, much as ones voice is under ones control, for example. Neither the traditional methods of voting nor the proposed reforms meet this requirement. In both cases the form of the vote is prescribed by force and the vote itself is withheld for long periods. Most crucially it is withheld during those periods in which electoral decisions are made, which is always well before the ballots are printed. (b) The vote must have some meaningful effect in the real world. In particular it ought to afford a reasonable possibility of influencing the outcome of the election. Again, neither the traditional methods nor the proposed reforms meet this requirement. In both cases ones vote has no effect whatsoever on the outcome of the election. DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES:What do you think is the most important election reform needed where you live (either locally or nationally)? Why is this reform important? Mr. Allan: I think the most important requirement is that the elector must actually have a vote. Gaining control of the vote would give our electors immediate influence over the elections; that's one thing. In due course, it would also open the possibility of voting on laws and other norms, which would entail efforts at reaching consensus or mutual understanding on the shape of society. With that, we would arrive at the possibility of political freedom. DEMOCRACY CHRONICLES:What is your opinion on other aspects of election reform such as reforming money's role in politics or redistricting (particularly in the US but very interested as well concerning election reforms internationally)? Mr. Allan: In my opinion, if we each possess a vote with an effect, then there is little opportunity for money and/or gerrymandering to fill that role. Those forces come into play only because the voter (as such) is absent from the decision process, which again is one that unfolds well before the ballots are printed. Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
[EM] Democracy Chronicles, introductions - Michael Allan
Hello Adrian and all, Here are my particulars: * BSc. Biological Sciences. University of Guelph, 1992. * Certificate in Computer Programming. Ryerson Polytechnic University. Toronto, 1995. * Independent sofware engineer, living in Toronto. * Working in collaborative and social media. Primarily on project Votorola since 2007, previously on project textbender. * Discussed 'the "meaning" of a vote (or lack thereof)' with Warren Smith. My critique of the proposed reforms was elaborated in that and subsequent discussions, all of which are indexed here: http://zelea.com/project/autonomy/a/fau/fau.xht#H Please let me know if you need additional information. Best to all, -- Michael Allan Toronto, +1 416-699-9528 http://zelea.com/ Richard Fobes said: > Adrian Tawfik at Democracy Chronicles requested that I supply him with > an introduction to myself for the article that contains my answers to > his interview questions. I'm thinking that everyone else who also > answered his interview questions will need to supply an introduction, > and I figure that all of us will want to elaborate on the brief comment > that appears next to our name on the Declaration. As long as we are > writing introductions that will be published, we might as well also use > the opportunity to learn more about each other, and share ideas about > what to write. Plus, if any of us includes a statement that defies the > principles of mathematics, such an error can be pointed out prior to > publication. > > With that in mind, here is my suggestion for an introductory paragraph > about me: > > begin intro > > Richard Fobes, who has a degree in physics (and whose last name rhymes > with robes), became involved with election-method reform when he > realized, while writing his book titled "The Creative Problem Solver's > Toolbox" [link], that most of the world's problems can be solved, but > the current voting methods used throughout the world are so primitive > that citizens are unable to elect the problem-solving leaders they want. > That insight motivated him to spend time over the last two decades > developing -- including writing open-source software for -- a system of > voting methods that he calls "VoteFair ranking." The core of the system > is VoteFair popularity ranking, which is mathematically equivalent to > the Condorcet-Kemeny method, which is one of the methods supported by > the "Declaration of Election-Method Reform Advocates." > > At his VoteFair.org [link] website, Fobes offers a free service of > calculating VoteFair ranking results, and a number of organizations have > used the service to elect their officers. The only people who have > objected to the results have been incumbents who failed to get reelected. > > At that site Fobes also hosts an American Idol poll that allows fans of > the TV show to rank the show's singers according to who is their > favorite, who is their second favorite, and so on down to who they like > the least, and the calculations reveal the overall ranking. Based on the > results, Fobes writes commentaries that anticipate and explain so-called > "surprise" results in terms of important voting concepts, especially > vote splitting, vote concentration, and strategic voting. > > end intro Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
