Condorcet in the U.K./U.S.

DEMOREP1 at aol.com DEMOREP1 at aol.com
Thu Nov 7 20:46:43 PST 1996


Who was the first U.K. or U.S. person to popularize the Condorcet method and
when did he/she do it ?

Thomas Jefferson was U.S. minister to France in 1785-1789 so he may have
heard about Condorcet's election works. If he heard about it, he apparently
did not send the information to the U.S. in time for the 1787 constitutional
convention.

I note that it took John Stuart Mill in his On Representative Government
(circa 1859) to popularize Hare's single transferable vote (STV) method.  

Are there any big-name Condorcet popularists in addition to those (Mr. O.,
Mr. E, etc.) on the EM list ? 

Or, in other words, when will the likes of Nader, Perot or Forbes come out
for plain Condorcet or a variation of it ??

There were all sorts of newspaper stories today (Thurs. 11 Nov. 1996) about
the Tuesday poor percentage voter turnout being due to the fact that the
voters hated all of the U.S. President candidates (which confirms to me the
need for a majority yes/no vote on each candidate in addition to ranking
them) (with some voters noting that (plurality) primaries produce
unacceptable general election candidates- in this year Mr. Dole and for many
voters Mr. Clinton as a primary winner by default).

See if you have the chance, USA Today, the letter to the editor by David F.
Fredrickson, p. 18A and the article about the process that picked Dole on p.
19A. How many election blowouts - as in 1964, 1972, 1984, 1988 and 1996- can
the U.S. take before a political unstability disaster occurs ???
Things can happen as in 1773 (Boston Tea Party), 1859 (John Brown's raid in
Va.) and 1929 (Stock Market crash).




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