[EM] Second order proportional representation.

[VoteFair]

On 9/15/2016 11:52 PM, Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:
 > I've always had the impression that ranked voting isn't going to work in
 > parliamentary settings because the MPs will feel obligated to strategize
 > maximally to get what they want, and there are few enough of them that
 > it is possible to do so.

The existing and (other) proposed PR (proportional representation) 
ranked voting methods I've seen are, indeed, vulnerable to strategic 
voting, but that doesn't mean that all PR ranked voting methods also 
have to have those vulnerabilities.

Strategies only work if the voting method is vulnerable to strategic voting.

I've designed VoteFair ranking and the software negotiation tool to 
resist strategies.

This concept is analogous to gerrymandering in the sense that a 
well-designed voting system cannot be skewed by gerrymandering tricks.

 > In a system with strong party discipline, the party leaders or whips
 > could very well order their respective MPs to vote in a particular way.

Strong party discipline is great for taking advantage of strategic 
vulnerabilities.  If the voting method does not have strategic 
vulnerabilities then party discipline loses its advantage, and MPs 
(members of parliament) become free to express their real preferences.

I forgot to mention that in the example of using the software 
negotiation tool to elect cabinet ministers, each "proposal" is for a 
specific MP to be elected to a specific cabinet position.  The software 
takes care of conflicts so that when an MP wins a specific cabinet 
position then all other incompatible proposals, such as that MP being 
chosen for other cabinet positions, are ignored.

Richard Fobes


On 9/15/2016 11:52 PM, Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:
> On 09/16/2016 05:52 AM, VoteFair wrote:
>> On 9/14/2016 1:06 PM, Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:
>>> I just read about an interesting idea in this vein by Brams. First you
>>> pick your legislature (using whatever method), then once a majority of
>>> the parties decide to form a government, the parties sequentially claim
>>> ministries according to an order given by a divisor method.
>>
>> Here is yet another approach:
>>
>> http://www.negotiationtool.com/cabinetministers.html
>>
>> The MPs (members of parliament) rank their preferences for possible
>> cabinet members, and then a variation of VoteFair ranking calculations
>> fills the cabinet positions.
>>
>> It mostly uses the algorithms explained at VoteFair.org
>> (http://www.votefair.org/calculation_details.html).  Of course a few
>> modifications are needed.
>>
>> Have questions?  Please ask.  But be patient because I'm writing a
>> time-sensitive election article that I will announce later.
>
> I've always had the impression that ranked voting isn't going to work in
> parliamentary settings because the MPs will feel obligated to strategize
> maximally to get what they want, and there are few enough of them that
> it is possible to do so.
>
> In a system with strong party discipline, the party leaders or whips
> could very well order their respective MPs to vote in a particular way.
>
> Am I wrong when making that assumption?