[EM] Introductory Message

[Bart Ingles]

Doreen Dotan wrote:
> 
> I do not expect that the Israeli electorate will vote sincerely in the
> first few elections of CR is introduced.  They will, almost
> undoubtedly, try to “beat the system” and skew things such that they
> receive an outcome like the ones they have been accustomed to.
> However, after having lived with the results of their own outsmarting
> themselves a few times I believe that they will begin to vote more
> sincerely.  The opportunity for the ultimate freedom of voting
> expression and sincerity should be granted even if it first it is not
> appreciated or used wisely and well.

I would expect sophisticated voters under CR [Cardinal Ratings] to learn
quickly that they can obtain the best results (from their own points of
view) by using an all-or-nothing approach to ratings.  In other words,
if the PM election allows ratings of 1-10, a sophisticated voter would
give each candidate either 1 or 10.

In one sense, this is still a good system.  If all voters followed this
strategy, the system would be equivalent to approval voting [AV].  AV
produces results which are fairly close to the Condorcet methods, and is
one of the best at choosing the candidate with the highest average
sincere Cardinal Rating.  Thus your concern about voters "skewing things
toward what they have been accustomed to" does not seem justified-- in
fact "sincere" CR and "strategic" CR or AV should almost always produce
the same results.

The main drawback I see with CR is that it gives a sophisticated voter
(using all-or-nothing strategy) slightly more power than a "naive" voter
who always votes sincerely.  This may not sit well with some critics. 
And of course CR is slightly more difficult to implement than AV.

Bart Ingles