Sunday, August 05, 2007

The unexpected consensus among voting methods

voting machine, From the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution in the Vote: The Machinery of Democracy exhibit.Historically, the theoretical social choice literature on voting procedures in economics and political science routinely highlights worst case scenarios, emphasizing the inexistence of a universally ‘best’ voting method. Indeed, the Impossibility Theorem of Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow proved that no voting method can ever satisfy all of his requirements simultaneously.
But as the U.S. Presidential election of 2000 reminds us, voting methods continue to court controversy, and there are many efforts under way to reform the electoral system at all levels of government. Unfortunately, the popular debate and the scientific debate about voting methods have long been preoccupied with theoretical claims that are often supported only with simple hypothetical thought experiments. Likewise, the theoretical social choice literature on voting procedures in economics and political science primarily highlights worst case scenarios and the mathematical impossibility of a single universally ‘best’ election method.

New research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, tested whether methods of voting, including instant runoff, achieved more similar results than previously thought.

Michel Regenwetter, a professor of psychology and political science at the University of Illinois, along with his colleagues analyzed four presidential elections of the American Psychological Association (APA) using state-of-the art decision modeling and statistical methods. APA elections are particularly useful for such analyses because, in contrast to a common two-person runoff election, the APA ballots provide individual voter preference rankings and the APA elections involve multiple candidates (five).

Using these data, the researchers compared instant runoff voting to three other classic methods: Condorcet, in which all candidates are placed head to head against each rival, the winner being the one who wins the most contests; The Borda count in which points are given to each candidate based on ranking by the voter; and the more familiar Plurality system, in which each voter gives one vote to one single candidate.

Although past research has routinely depicted these procedures as irreconcilable, Regenwetter and his colleagues found strong support for consensus among these procedures in these elections. Their findings contrast two centuries of pessimistic thought experiments and computer simulations and demonstrate the need for more systematic empirical research on voting than exists to date. ###

Story Contact: Jesse Erwin jerwin@psychologicalscience.org 202-783-2077 Association for Psychological Science

Image Summary and Licensing: Description A voting machine designed by Alfred J. Gillespie and marketed by the Standard Voting Machine Company of Rochester, New York from the late 1890s.

Source From the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution in the Vote: The Machinery of Democracy exhibit. Date creation date unknown. Author National Museum of American History. Permission Work of the United States Government

This Image is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of 17 U.S.C. § 105

Technorati tags: and or and or and and or Scientists Discover New Way to Study Nanostructures and "I want you" Uncle Sam and Presidential Podcast 08/04/07

Linkfest Haven, the Blogger's OasisTrackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary's Thoughts,
Right Truth, Big Dog's Weblog, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, Webloggin, Cao's Blog, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Adeline and Hazel, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Trackback URL for this entry: http://haloscan.com/tb/sookietex/7295299246854904793

8 Trackbacks for this post:

Coalition of the Good (Muslims and Arabs) Excerpt: Arab countries may be joining together to for a Coalition of the Good, as a counter balance to President George W. Bush's Axis of Evil. The suggestion came from a Sheik Fadlalla, but I didn't catch his full name. I'm ... Weblog: Right Truth Tracked: 08.05.07 - 5:27 pm

Rhymes With Right wrote Iran To Israel: Move!… I don’t know about you, but this strikes me as a great idea. Iran’s outspoken President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Israel to “go find somewhere else” for its state and leave its territory for the creation of a Palestinian state,…… Tracked: 08.05.07 at 8:10 pm

Here's a Fun New Game... ...called hang the bastards. Perhaps it's just because I have children but the very thought of pedophiles like Jack McClellan walking around free to do what they want to our children burns me up. Texas Fred sent an email out to the ... Posted by at Sun Aug 05, 08:56:33 PM

Bumper Sticker Bozos “What explains the fact that some critics of the war are unwilling to hear good news of any sort – and get visibly agitated and disdainful when we see signs of progress ?” Peter Wehner, senior security aide to Bush. ... Posted by nuke at Sun Aug 05, 10:02:05 PM

Leaning Straight Up wrote Jackie Mason Slams the Democrats… Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Big Dog’s Weblog, Right Truth, The Pet Haven Blog, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and... 08.06.07 at 12:25 am (15 hours ago)

The Conspiracy to find Conspiracy Excerpt: Why does the Times editorial board has such wood for the Right, Republicans, Conservatives and President Bush in general? Weblog: DeMediacratic Nation Tracked: 08.06.07 - 6:21 am

Oh, Those Wacky, Productive Democrats Excerpt: Richard Cowan of al-Reuters has written a review of what the Democrats have accomplished so far this year, Congress recesses among Democratic achievements WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After months of being flogged for accomplishing little, Democrats who c... Weblog: Pirate's Cove Tracked: 08.06.07 - 10:53 am

A Letter From Terry… If you haven’t heard of Terry Funderburk by now, you can read his story here and here. And if you missed Terry’s interview on the Andrea Shea King show last evening on WDBO, you can listen to it at ANDREA’S archived SUNDAY NIGHT ... Posted by Christi at Mon Aug 06, 04:19:44 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment