[EM] Publication suggestions for Declaration

[Ralph Suter]

Another option that would require more planning and work but could 
attract much more attention and have a vastly greater long-term as well 
as short-term impact would be to distribute a news release (possibly 
with the donated help of a good PR firm with experience in news release 
writing and distribution - ideally, to both US and international print 
and online news outlets) announcing the declaration and inviting the 
publication of stories derived from the release as well as stories 
involving additional reporting and interviews.

To increase the impact of such a release, it would help if the 
declaration included well-thought-out concrete steps that interested 
readers could take to help the cause of improving methods used in real 
world public elections and other kinds of collective decisionmaking 
activities. Suggested steps could include ones involving contributions 
of money as well as time to specific activities and programs, including 
ones that don't yet exist (such as proposed research and promotional 
efforts and organizations) as well as existing ones - everything from 
lists like this one that people could join to already established 
programs and organizations that people could join or support.

If distributed this way, the declaration could attract not only much 
more attention but could attract the attention of individuals and 
organizations (foundations and other kinds) that may be interested in 
and able to contribute significant funding to efforts to develop and 
promote improved election methods.

If there is support for the idea of such a news release, I suggest 
taking a little more time to develop a list of existing and potential 
activities, programs, and organizations to include in the declaration or 
(if the list becomes too extensive for that) in an appendix to the 
declaration.

-Ralph Suter

On 9/13/2011, Jameson Quinn wrote:

> The suggestion has come from Warren Smith. His steps are (Warren, correct me
> if I'm wrong):
>
> 1. Write a version of the declaration suitable for publication as an
> editorial of an academic journal.
>
> 2. Get it published, preferably (quasi) simultaneously, by a few small
> journals.
>
> 3. Go to the journal Science, which published a lower-quality editorial in
> 2001, and use that fact to get them to publish it.
>
> I support this plan, as well as all of Richard's suggestions, but it is a
> significant amount of work, and by no means a sure thing.
>
> Jameson Quinn
>
> 2011/9/13 Richard Fobes<ElectionMethods at votefair.org>
>
>> >  On 9/11/2011 8:19 PM, St?phane Rouillon wrote:
>> >
>>> >>
>>> >>  When and where will the declaration be published?
>>> >>
>> >
>> >  This declaration project was started by Jameson Quinn, and I'm not sure
>> >  what he has in mind for publishing, and currently he may be busy monitoring
>> >  the Guatemalan election results,
>
> Well, aside from the war criminal coming in first place (on youtube you can
> see an old 80s documentary where admits genocide and a subordinate
> implicates him in torture and perhaps murder of prisoners), the most notable
> result was the over 12% of blank/spoiled votes. That's obviously
> intentional; it's over a third of the first place result, over half of the
> second place one, and more than the (sizable) margin between them.