Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Western-Style Voting 'A Loser'

Posted by Zonk on from the math-and-politics-two-great-tastes dept.

sethawoolley writes "In light of the upcoming elections in the US, author William Poundstone was interviewed about voting systems by Mother Jones. In it he advocates the benefits of Range Voting as a solution to Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. Approval, Borda, Instant Runoff, and Condorcet Voting, which are often solutions advocated by the Greens and Libertarians (in the US), are discussed, as well, in light of Warren Smith's recent empirical research using Bayesian Regret. My local party (of which I'm the Parliamentarian) uses Single Transferable voting, but we're considering using Range Voting in the future. One thing is for certain: any system is better than the West's out-dated plurality voting system."

8 of 614 comments (clear)

  1. 4-year dupe cycle by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 3, Funny

    I knew I'd seen something similar to this before. The link in that article doesn't seem to work anymore, but I'm sure there's plenty of insightful comments for everyone to repost to get the ball rolling...

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  2. I Prefer Cage Voting by dreamchaser · · Score: 5, Funny

    Put the candidates in a huge Steel Cage with various hand to hand weapons scattered about. When the bell rings everyone goes crazy. Last man or woman standing wins the election.

    1. Re:I Prefer Cage Voting by Ikipou · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unfortunately, the Cage Voting system have a huge bias in favor of Chuck Norris

      --
      Insightful! :)
    2. Re:I Prefer Cage Voting by WaZiX · · Score: 5, Funny

      oohhhhhhhhhhhh... So that's what happened in California?

  3. Re:"Western"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "the German Federal Diet is elected by a hybrid of the first-past-the-post election system and party-list proportional representation."

    But is it effective at losing weight?

  4. Re:"The West", you say? by 1u3hr · · Score: 2, Funny
    One thing is for certain: any system is better than the West's out-dated plurality voting system.
    You do realise that the USA is not the only country in "the West", surely?

    Obviously, by "the West" the writer meant that realm inhabited by cowboys, ranchers and Red Indians. In that land only white men of substance are allowed to vote, I believe. Truly long overdue for reform.

  5. My proposed system by Malevolent+Tester · · Score: 1, Funny

    Every year, Margaret Thatcher retakes power, and people vote on whether she wears whipped cream or a wet t-shirt.

    --
    If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
  6. Re:Wikipedia agrees by larjon · · Score: 2, Funny

    If we implemented the wikipedia system, our president would be chosen by who could yell the loudest for the longest period of time, and then Jimbo would come in and put his brother in the Oval Office.

    And just how's that different from today?

    --
    $> cd /pub
    $> more beer