[EM] Election-Methods Digest, Vol 150, Issue 42

[Jack Santucci via Election-Methods]

Hi, all.

My remark concerns Erik's on the susceptibility of STV to repeal.

I don't think STV is a bad system, just a complicated one. I do worry,
> as I mentioned in my original post, that this helps make it very
> susceptible to repeal, since it's been repealed in all US cities that
> have used it except one:
>
> http://www.jacksantucci.com/docs/papers/repeal_dec2016.pdf
> https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/articles/
> Brief%20History%20of%20PR.htm
> https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001157823
> http://archive.fairvote.org/library/history/true_experiences.htm


The argument I make in "Exit from PR" above could apply to any voting
system with low effective thresholds. It may apply to any PR system,
period. Most (all?) of what we know about PR's repeal (or reduction) comes
from countries where disloyalty in a legislative coalition triggers
dissolution. Dissolution can reshuffle the parliamentary balance of power.
I suspect -- and this is a big hunch -- we see repeal/reductions in
parliamentary regimes when that reshuffling does not happen.

Erik pointed out elsewhere that Norway uses PR (candidate-based, no less)
without the possibility of snap elections. This could be a problem for my
argument. I guess it depends on what's been happening in Norway.

If anyone is attending the Southern Political Science Association meeting
in New Orleans next month, I'm presenting "Exit" on Thursday afternoon.

I don't want to speak for now on the relative merits of STV, MMP, OLPR, et
cetera. The reason Americans chose STV is itself interesting but too much
for one thread.

Best,
Jack

Jack Santucci
Ph.D. Candidate in Government
Georgetown University
http://www.jacksantucci.com
202-681-5225 (Google Voice)


>
>
> My sense is that US debate is dominated by the IRV->STV path, even
> though single-vote MMP is a pretty straightforward upgrade path for
> legislatures, and super-easy for voters. I've found the Canadian
> reports from their many aborted electoral reform efforts the most
> useful in my exploration of the subject. I recommend checking out this
> report by Louis Massicotte that came out of the Quebec reform
> discussions, one of the most rigorous examinations of compensatory
> voting systems, which also concluded with a recommendation for
> single-vote MMP:
>
> https://www.institutions-democratiques.gouv.qc.ca/
> publications/mode_scrutin_rapport_en.pdf
>
> Cheers,
>
> Erik
>
>
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> End of Election-Methods Digest, Vol 150, Issue 42
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