[EM] Intro to list (etc)

[Rob Lanphier]

Rob Brown wrote:

> So has anyone tried showing bar graphs or numerical scores for 
> Condorcet elections?  I suspect that if this is completely impossible 
> to show something reasonable, I won't have much luck selling a 
> condorcet based system to a mainstream web audience....people really 
> seem to want to see something to help them understand the results.  On 
> the other hand, my gut feeling is that there MUST be some way to have 
> Condorcet results equate to numerical values.

Hi Rob,

Your demo looks wonderful.  Regarding display of results, it's a very 
difficult problem.  It's hard to come up with something that is both 
intuitive and correct.  That said, I thought the Free State Project did 
an interesting summary of their results:

1. New Hampshire defeated all states and Wyoming 1279-­1041
2. Wyoming defeated all states except New Hampshire, and defeated 
Montana 1196-­954
3. Montana defeated all states except Wyoming and New Hampshire, and 
defeated Idaho 1152-­979
4. Idaho lost to the above and defeated Alaska 1269-950
5. Alaska lost to the above and defeated Maine 1127-1097
6. Maine lost to the above and defeated Vermont 1108-996
7. Vermont lost to the above and defeated Delaware 1087-­1015
8. Delaware lost to the above and defeated South Dakota 1245-­938
9. South Dakota lost to the above and defeated North Dakota 1101-­823
10. North Dakota lost to all states

The ranking is clear, and the important margins are called out.  This 
was a relatively simple election though, since there were no circular 
ties anywhere down the ranking.  However, I imagine that could be dealt 
with.  For example, let's say that Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho had a 
three way tie that would be broken by one of the many methods discussed 
on this list:

1. New Hampshire defeated all states and Wyoming 1279-­1041
2 through 4. (three way tie) The following defeated all states except 
New Hampshire
  2. Wyoming - defeated Montana 1196-­954, but lost to Idaho
  3. Montana - defeated Idaho 1152-979, but lost to Wyoming
  4. Idaho - defeated Wyoming 1020-989, but lost to Montana
5. Alaska lost to the above and defeated Maine 1127-1097
6. Maine lost to the above and defeated Vermont 1108-996
7. Vermont lost to the above and defeated Delaware 1087-­1015
8. Delaware lost to the above and defeated South Dakota 1245-­938
9. South Dakota lost to the above and defeated North Dakota 1101-­823
10. North Dakota lost to all states

A more succinct way of reporting the results would be as follows (using 
original results):
 
State
	W
	L
	Notable victories
New Hampshire
	9
	0
	defeated Wyoming 1279-1041
Wyoming
	8
	1
	defeated Montana 1196-954
Montana
	7
	2
	defeated Idaho 1152-­97
Idaho
	6
	3
	defeated Alaska 1269-950
Alaska
	5
	4
	defeated Maine 1127-1097
Maine
	4
	5
	defeated Vermont 1108-996
Vermont
	3
	6
	defeated Delaware 1087-­101
Delaware
	2
	7
	defeated South Dakota 1245-­938
South Dakota
	1
	8
	defeated North Dakota 1101-­823
North Dakota
	0
	9
	lost to all states


For those that follow sports, this would be a comfortable and familiar 
format, and one that conveys a lot of important info without completely 
overwhelming the voter with too much information.

Rob