vulnerability to compromise?

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

Mr. Ossipoff wrote in part-

  The compromise strategist isn't a dishonest
cheating manipulator. He's someone trying to get his rightful due.
The person who does the compromise strategy is the only victim in
that story. That's the problem--that he's strategically forced to
use compromise strategy. I consider the most important criteria to
be the ones that measure how often & how drastically we're
strategically forced to compromise.
---
D-

Desired > Compromise > Unacceptable

Notice that there are rankings.

It is not---

Desired = Compromise = Unacceptable.

Simple Approval assumes Desired = Compromise.   Obviously not true.

Mike replies:

No it doesn't. You might vote only for Desired, and you should
if you believe that it can get a majority.

I never denied that Approval requires strategy, that it requires
doing other than sincerely ranking all the candidates.

So I agree with your point, which is that Approval requires
compromise strategy. But show me a method that looks better, in
terms of compromise strategy, and I'll show you a Condorcet version.

Speaking of what it isn't, here's something else that it isn't:

Compromise > Desired > Unacceptable. Can you show me a method other
than Approval that will never require you to vote that way
in order to avoid the election of Unacceptable?


Demorep continues:

How can a voter be *strategically forced to use compromise strategy* if
his/her Desired choices cannot get elected ???  Such voter just wants a
compromise choice to get elected rather than an unacceptable choice to get
elected.

Mike replies:

You've answered your own question. You've told what it means to
be strategically forced to use compromise strategy.

You said "...if your desired choice cannot get elected". Of course
the problem occurs when you think that you need the compromise, and
then, after the election, it turns out that Desired had a win, but
you gave it away. Compared to other non-Condorcet methods, Approval
requires twice as many mistaken compromisers in order to give away
an election. So one disadvantage about compromise strategy is the
possibility of giving away an election. Additionally, it sends the
wrong message to the other voters when you vote Compromose > Desired.
No one will know how many people consider Desired their favorite.

Mike Ossipoff

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