Usage of "instant runoffs" (was: Re: Individual Reporting of Vot

[Steve Eppley]

Marcus G wrote:
>Steve wrote:
>>Maybe we could have a vote (in the ER list?) about which is the 
>>better usage. 
>
>The point of my comments was that what I call OPV, some call MPV, 
>others Instant Runoff, others Preferential Voting, others the 
>Alternative vote.
-snip-
>All I really want to ensure is that we use enough tags when posting
>to ER that everyone knows what we are talking about.  This will
>avoid others having to go through the confusion I did. 

I agree that enough tags should be used to prevent confusion.  But
you've misunderstood my suggestion about a vote in ER.  I'm not
proposing a vote on what is the best name for MPV.  I'm proposing a
vote between using "Instant Runoff" as one of the terms which means
MPV or using "Instant Runoffs" as one of the terms which means
Condorcet's method.  It would obviously create a lot of confusion
if both are used, even though one is singular and one is plural.

I'd like to be able to explain Condorcet's method to millions of
people, not just discuss it with the subscribers of ER.  Would the
phrase "instant runoffs" make it easier to explain Condorcet's
method?  If so, the question is what is the phrase's best usage:
should "instant runoff" be discontinued as a synonym for MPV so it
can be used for Condorcet's, and could we persuade the people who
coined the phrase to stop using it that way? 

MPV is fortunate to have some recognizable acronyms and a long
history.  It's unfortunate that Condorcet's method doesn't have a
mnemonic phrase or acronym, its name is hard for non-French speakers
to pronounce correctly (con-door-say'), and xenophobes may dislike
the foreign connection.  I think it would be helpful to improve the
situation. 

---Steve     (Steve Eppley    seppley at alumni.caltech.edu)