[EM] Approval vs Plurality

MIKE OSSIPOFF nkklrp at hotmail.com
Sat May 22 12:52:28 PDT 2004


Dave Ketchum wrote:

I still place Plurality third, while conceding that Approval is close
enough that I do not object to your choice.  Plurality only requires
picking one candidate to rank first, while Approval always requires
deciding whether to add one more to my approved list

I reply:

You seem to be implying that Approval is more difficult than Plurality. But 
in Approval, you can vote for the same candidate for whom you'd vote in 
Plurality. If you need him as your compromise in Plurality, then you need 
him in Approval too. The only difference is that, in Approval, you can also 
vote for everyone whom you like better than him, including your favorite.

So no new decision is needed in Approval. Voting for the candidates whom you 
like better than the one you'd vote for in Plurality, and therefore in 
Approval,  doesn't require a decision.

In fact, Plurality puts you in a worse dilemma, gives you a more difficult 
choice, because, in Plurality, when you vote for that compromise, perhaps 
some disgusting lesser-evil, you're having to vote him over your favorite, 
somethiing that you don't have to do in Approval. That's why Approval needs 
twice as many mistaken compromisers to give away an election.

Mike Ossipoff

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