The New Welcome Message

[Rob Lanphier]

Here's the new welcome message for this list.  I'm not sure I'm pleased
with how verbose it is, but it at least gets the important points across
eventually

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This list is intended as a compliment to the elections-reform mailing list
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that list as well.  It has a more "mainstream" appeal than
election-methods-list, and probably has more appeal to those just starting
out on this subject. On "election-methods-list", we discuss the
nitty-gritty details of single-winner election reform, the relative merits
of different proportional representation systems, and the technical
underpinnings of all election methods. This list is intended to
compliment, not to replace, the existing "elections-reform" list.

"elections-reform" is still the best forum for discussing strategies used
in reform campaigns, specific legislation addressing reform, and
educational material about reform.

What is the difference, you ask? "election-methods-list" discussions will
most likely be more technical in nature, with the ultimate goal of
providing recommendations and educational material to the members of
"elections-reform". There have been complaints in the past that
discussions on "elections-reform" have been too technical, and
"election-methods-list" has been created to offload the more prolific
technical discussions from "elections-reform". It lets folks use
"elections-reform"  to stay abreast of current activity in electoral
reform without fear of their inbox exploding. Those that want to have
in-depth discussions about the technical subtleties of election methods
can use "election-methods-list" to discuss those things without fear of
reprisal from those who aren't interested.

That said, please come prepared to defend the statements that you make,
and to directly answer the questions that others ask of you.  This list
was set up to increase communication between people interested in new
forms of election methodology, not as a sounding board for those who wish
to drown out opposing views with prolific repetition of statements already
made.  When conflicts arise, please use this list to understand *fully*
why the other side feels the way they do by honest intellectual inquiry.
And when those who feel differently than you are trying to understand why
you feel the way you do, please answer as honestly and directly as
possible.

Hopefully this is all common sense, but sadly not common enough (hence the
reason for this message). In summary, please ask, answer, and be humble.

For more information about this list, please see:
http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/cpr/election-methods.html