[EM] Suppose, for a moment, there were never any cycles...

[Kevin Venzke]

Hi Robert,

Ok, you make your position clear that you don't really think choice of method imparts
different incentives on anyone.

I would think you would at least agree that if the Alaska race had been determined under
FPP, Begich would probably receive fewer votes, assuming he would insist on running, given
an expectation of placing third, with a greater likelihood of playing spoiler. (Ditto this
basic idea for most three-way IRV races.)

> > For example FPP always elects the CW on those ballots.
> 
> Oh, that seems to me to be a little disingenuous.  There's only one ranking level other than
> unranked.  You don't know who the CW is if voters were allowed to be more specific about
> their preferences.  It's like the Approval folks insisting that their better at electing the
> CW than IRV.

So what do you think would happen if FPP was actually conducted with rank ballots? I dare
speculate that most FPP elections are won with a full majority, so the use of rank ballots
would probably not dent FPP's observable Condorcet efficiency by much.

Although maybe you have the belief that while method choice doesn't affect voter behavior,
ballot format does, and so using rank ballots for FPP would result in half of elections
getting spoiled by voters refusing to use FPP strategy. I don't believe that, myself.

Kevin
votingmethods.net