[EM] Populism and Voting Theory

[Brian Olson]

On Oct 16, 2008, at 10:11 PM, Greg Nisbet wrote:

> Which system do you think would work best that is actually achievable?

That's like asking the oft asked question, 'which candidate is  
electable?' and I HATE that question.
It's like suggesting that we prematurely compromise and compress our  
election reform advocacy down to a single method to push for when I'd  
much rather say that I support: 1. IRNR, 2. Condorcet, 3. IRV, 4.  
Approval. And sometimes I want a side of PR-STV, redistricting and  
elimination of bad voting machines.

In my few years of election reform advocacy, nearly everyone I've  
talked to agrees that 'rankings ballots' or 'ranked choice voting' is  
a good idea. Probably 80-90% of people I talk to I've been able to  
convince that IRV is severely suboptimal (but better than nothing) and  
that Condorcet methods are better. Maybe I should try to write down  
the elevator pitches/stump speechs/good lines/patter that seem to work  
and put together a pamphlet for election reform advocates.