[EM] (no subject)

[mrouse at internetcds.com]

Quoting Dave Ketchum <davek at clarityconnect.com>:
> Maybe time for new traditions.  A and B had core
> support.  They also each 
> had core enmity, and ranked ballots allowed both
> support and enmity to be 
> expressed.

Well said! One of the attributes with IRV by supporters 
is that it shows depth of support. What it does *not* 
show is depth of enmity. Given three equally-strong 
parties, a centrist candidate will typically be the 
winner under Condorcet (or mean Kemeny order, which is 
my favorite Condorcet-complete method). Under IRV, 
either the liberal or conservative wing can win by 
crowding the center. (One could argue that this shifts 
candidates toward the center anyway, but why pick a 
faux centrist when you can choose a real one?)

Under our present system, it's like using a steering 
wheel with only two settings, hard left and hard right. 
I'm convinced that the enmity toward opposition parties 
would be reduced if our representatives were "split the 
difference" moderates rather than "love them or hate 
them" conservatives or liberals.

Michael Rouse