[EM] General-audience election-method resources

[Richard Fobes]

On 10/7/2011 8:41 PM, Duane Johnson wrote:
> ...  Currently, there are
> many discussions going on with regard to political change (Occupy Wall
> Street movement) and what would be the most effective ways to make a
> difference. Can anyone point me to a wiki page or other URL that would
> be instructive for a non-academic audience?

I think the most important general-audience webpage that supports 
meaningful political change is the "Declaration of Election-Method 
Reform Advocates", which is available at this URL:

http://www.votefair.org/declaration.html

Jameson Quinn already mentioned this document, yet I believe it deserves 
greater emphasis because it bridges the gap between election-method 
experts and voters who want a simple explanation about what needs to 
change, and why, and how.

(That webpage contains a link to the actual document which is at Google 
Docs.)

As an additional resource, here is a short theatrical play -- a skit -- 
I wrote to entertainingly demonstrate the difference between plurality 
voting and Condorcet-winner outcomes:

http://www.votefair.org/pairwise_counting_skit.html

Here is a poem I wrote many years ago, and it entertainingly clarifies 
the disastrous results that can occur if a popular candidate is offered 
as a third choice in a U.S. Presidential election:

http://www.votefair.org/poem.html

Although it is not a single webpage, the first few chapters of my book 
titled "Ending The Hidden Unfairness In U.S. Elections" explains details 
about how money is used to influence election outcomes, and it is 
written for a general audience.  Here is a link to the free Google Books 
online version:

http://books.google.com/books?id=UOf86S4Lc-YC&lpg=PP1&dq=ending%20the%20hidden%20unfairness%20in%20us%20elections&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

I'll repeat that the most important of these is the "Declaration of 
Election-Method Reform Advocates".

Thank you for helping bridge the gap between the academic world and 
action-oriented reformers.

Richard Fobes