[EM] Yet another IRV problem

[Anthony Simmons]

>> From: Forest Simmons <fsimmons at pcc.edu>
>> Subject: [EM] IRV inconsistency

>> Here's an inconsistency of IRV that I wish somebody had
>> told me about before I submitted my article to the Green
>> Voice.

>> [...]

>> Why is IRV considered better than plurality when it fails
>> this consistency test and also fails monotonicity?

>> Is it only that it allows more ballot expressivity and
>> more or less eliminates spoilage by tiny parties?

I think the main reason is that it prevents what happened in
Florida last year.  This is what people see, so this is what
they want a cure for.  Examples like the one you brought up
don't necessarily bother people.  The system for electing the
U.S. President is a plurality system, and yet a candidate can
get a plurality, or even a majority for that matter, and
still lose.  And yet its defenders have crawled out of the
woodwork since the latest fiasco.

I have of late been entertaining a suspicion so shocking I'm
reluctant to mention it.  It's beginning to look like public
opinion may not always be formed entirely on rational
grounds.  Yes, really.