[EM] Lomax: IRV, Bucklin, TTR

[Jameson Quinn]

2013/1/14 Michael Ossipoff <email9648742 at gmail.com>
>
> IRV will be the next voting system, and that's very much ok.
>
>
Michael's statement above is based on the idea that voting reform will
happen through a third party gaining majority power. I believe that this
is, frankly, a pipe dream. Third parties can and should have local
victories, and I applaud and support the efforts to organize for that to
happen. But national or statewide majorities will not happen before voting
reform. I believe that there are coherent reasons for major-party
politicians to support voting reform, especially if it has strong
grass-roots movements behind it (and yes, the plural is intentional,
because while I believe cross-ideology alliances on this issue are
important, I think that the day-to-day work of organizing and
message-optimizing is best done separately for each broad ideological
grouping). But if voting reform were passed by existing major parties,
IRV's strengths (ie, MMC) would be mostly irrelevant, and its weaknesses
(FBC) would tend to entrench the two-party system and undercut the chances
for further reform on this and other structural issues (such as campaign
finance). Thus, I find IRV to be a dangerous distraction, and reiterate the
call for us to unite our public activism around Approval.

(As for Bruce's objections to Approval: Bruce, I'm willing to go another
few rounds with you in private trying to find common ground on this
question, if you're game. I think a two-way conversation on this issue is
significantly more likely to be fruitful than a free-for-all.)

Jameson
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