[EM] Fwd: Is Condorcet The Turkey?

Bart Ingles bartman at netgate.net
Sun Jun 8 10:56:08 PDT 2003


Bart Ingles wrote:
> 
> [...] but what Runoff and Instant Runoff
> supporters don't seem to grasp is that those systems also reinforce the
> two-party system.

I didn't mean for this to sound condescending-- it took me a couple of
years for this to sink in as well.  And maybe Irving supporters do grasp
this-- after all, even Plurality seems to avoid the kind of "turkey
problem" being attributed to Condorcet methods.  If you are a commited
Demopublican, Irving does a good job of keeping those annoying third
parties from influencing elections.

But there are many who believe that the two big parties are the real
turkeys, engaging in a sort of perpetual mock-battle for swing voters.  
In effect, one or the other is almost always the Condorcet winner in a
restricted field of candidates.  Eliminating third-party candidates via
runoff rounds might make the outcome of the mock battle slightly more
accurate (in favor of the biggest "turkey"), it but wouldn't change the
contestants.



More information about the Election-Methods mailing list