[EM] Popular initiatives and dulling the tyranny of the majority

[Juho Laatu]

How far is this method from a method that simply allows the voters to rank different yes/no combinations of the initiatives and then decide the winning combination using Condorcet?

>From this point of view the ratings are a tool that makes it easier for the individual voters to rank the (numerous) combinations. (The numeric ratings  will determine the order.)

Juho


--- On Tue, 11/11/08, Raph Frank <raphfrk at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Raph Frank <raphfrk at gmail.com>
> Subject: [EM] Popular initiatives and dulling the tyranny of the majority
> To: "EM" <election-methods at lists.electorama.com>
> Date: Tuesday, 11 November, 2008, 6:32 PM
> One of the issues with citizen's initiatives is that it
> can be passed
> because a majority slightly prefers it, even if it is
> terrible for a
> minority.
> 
> The idea would be to allow voters trade off votes in one
> initiative
> against another held at the same time.
> 
> For each option, the voter rates the option from -99 to +99
> or
> indicate "Yes" or "No" if they want to
> be sure that their ballot
> always votes Yes or No for that initiative.
> 
> 99 = much better than status quo
> 0 = equal to status quo
> -99 = much worse than status quo
> 
> Step 1 is to work out the majority for each option.  If any
> initiative
> is passed by a majority (Yes + all >0 ratings is more
> than No + all <0
> ratings), it is considered initially passed, otherwise, it
> initially
> fails.
> 
> This initial configuration is used as reference for all
> other possible outcomes.
> 
> A valid configuration is one that beats the initial
> configuration
> using this comparison method.
> 
> For each ballot, the total score of the initial outcome and
> the
> outcome under test is determined to see which is preferred.
> 
> The ballot is then considered to vote
> 
> - In favour of all options marked Yes on the ballot
> - Against all options marked No on the ballot
> - consistant with all the outcome it prefers for all other
> options.
> 
> For example, if I voted
> 
> A: Yes
> B: +15
> C: -20
> D: +15
> 
> and the outcomes being compared were (A,not B,not C,not D)
> and (A,B,C,D)
> 
> my ballot prefers the 2nd option as it has a higher total
> score.
> 
> A: Yes (locked)
> B: Yes
> C: Yes (even though I don't really like it)
> D: Yes
> 
> Anyway, if after all the ballots have been determined, the
> outcome is
> equal to the outcome under test, then the outcome under
> test is
> considered valid.
> 
> All ballots are then considered to rank all the outcomes
> based on the
> ratings, and the condorcet winner amoung the valid outcomes
> becomes
> the winner.
> 
> For the purposes of working out how a ballot ranks the
> outcomes, a
> locked Yes is considered a +1000 rating and a locked No is
> considered
> a -1000 rating.
> 
> This allows voters effectively trade off one set of
> initiatives
> against another.  It also allows the majority to exclude
> from
> consideration certain initiatives.
> 
> If an initiative is voted locked No by a majority, then it
> cannot be
> passed and similarily an initiative that is passed by a
> majority of
> locked Yeses is certain to be passed as only outcomes that
> are
> consistant with that decision will be considered valid.
> 
> It also maintains majority rule if the voters want to
> impose their
> will, but allows negotiation.
> ----
> Election-Methods mailing list - see
> http://electorama.com/em for list info