[EM] Defeat Strength

[Colin Champion]

On 10/09/2022 01:33, Forest Simmons wrote:
> But this brings up the question ... why not (???) actually propose an 
> instant double elimination tournament (IDET) that (compared to plain 
> IRV) gives more meaningful fallback safety. IRV-BTR can be thought of 
> in those terms, but there may be a psychologically better way of 
> organizing it.
There are a host of methods marketed under the byline "If you like IRV, 
then you ought to *love* xyz". They never get the welcome their 
proposers hope for. I don't think IRV is popular for its intrinsic 
merits, but for circumstantial reasons - it has the wind in its sails. 
And once an idea has the wind in its sails, people find the arguments in 
its favour more persuasive than they really are. But this is an 
all-or-nothing factor; there's no point in trying to retain some of the 
faults of IRV in the hope of deflecting criticism from its supporters.

On the other hand, I don't think Condorcet methods are rejected on 
account of their intrinsic faults - I'm afraid they suffer from an 
association with "geekiness". I think Condorcet supporters, when 
addressing the general public, should keep things as simple as possible. 
Offering a plethora of Condorcet alternatives is one way of confusing 
the public, who then feel that they can't accept Condorcet voting 
without making a choice between methods, at which point they get lost in 
a labyrinth of technical detail.

CJC