[EM] Re: majority rule vs. maximum approval (was: least additional votes)

[Forest Simmons]

On Fri, 18 Mar 2005, James Green-Armytage wrote:

> James G-A replying to Forest
>
>> I should have made it more clear that I wasn't talking exclusively about
>> 100% consensus, though that is the (usually impossible) democratic ideal.
>> But the greater the consensus, the better.
>> If no significant consensus is possible, then (as Jobst argued) the best
>> we can do is give the strongest contenders a chance at winning.
>> I think of approval and Condorcet as probes for measuring the amount of
>> consensus.  Each measures in a different way.
>
> 	What exactly is your definition of consensus, in this context?

What I mean is "the degree of consent."

If you can get 85 percent of the people to agree that plan A is an 
acceptable alternative, then I consider that an 85 percent consensus.

In other words, 85 percent of the people involved would be willing 
to consent to plan A.

Unanimity would be 100 percent consensus.

I just googled "consensus" to see if my usage was consistent with common 
usage.  I found that consensus can mean anything on the spectrum from 
plurality to majority to "overwhelming consensus" to unanimity.  It can 
also refer to the process of increasing the degree of agreement, through 
discussion, compromise, etc.

So by common usage there are degrees of consensus between plurality and 
unanimity, and the word "consensus" is associated with the democratic 
ideal of reaching a generally acceptable agreement.

In particular, methods of improving upon mere majority consensus are 
considered an antidote to the "tyranny of the majority," which means a 
majority getting their way no matter how offensive or oppresive it might 
be to the rest of the community.

Approval voting by itself cannot solve the "tyranny of the majority" 
problem, because a confident majority can always impose its will by 
"bullet voting."

However, the spirit of approval voting is in the direction of increased 
consensus, and voters that approve sincerely (whether from altruism or 
lack of information for strategizing) increase the likely degree of 
consensus with respect to the outcome.

Forest