[EM] req to Matthew: definitions of standards

Steve Eppley seppley at alumni.caltech.edu
Fri Mar 15 21:39:39 PST 1996


Matthew Shugart wrote:
>Decisiveness.  Hmmm.  I guess it means that a narrow victory by one party
>(or candidate in single-winner races) in votes is translated into a bigger
>victory in seats.  Obviously winner-take all rules are by definition
>decisive, if this is what the criterion means.

def {{Decisiveness
new: Decisiveness

I presumed you meant something more by Decisiveness, such as the 
appearance of a large victory and a mandate even if the people's will 
is divided.  Runoff scores better than Plurality on the Mandate 
standard.

def {{Mandate
new: Mandate
con {{Mandate {{Plurality

Using only the Simplicity and Decisiveness standards, plurality 
scores very well.

pro {{Simplicity {{Plurality
pro {{Decisiveness {{Plurality

--Steve



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