Alex, --- Alex Small <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> a �crit�: > Well, say that the breakdown of the voters is > > 40% left > 40% right > 20% center > > These are just general proclivities. They aren't guarantees for how > people will feel about every single issue. There could be some issues > that have support from left and right but not center. This would indicate > that, on particular issues, center isn't really center.
True, but I would hope that if enough people were elected by a "median-seeking" method, such subtleties could be caught. Suppose the extremes (used loosely) unite on some issue, but the traditional center opposes them. If the extremes actually have a majority, that should suggest that there's another dimension by which to define "median." >On those issues, > there's still a median voter and median legislator, so a legislature > elected by PR is always enacting policies supported by its median > legislator (who hopefully represents the median voter on that particular > issue). > > So a legislature doesn't need to over-represent the median voter to get > policies that satisfy a majority of the electorate. At least not in > principle. If the chamber doesn't make powerful appointments (like the government), I think the center might get represented decently by PR. But in a parliamentary system, I think the center voters will compromise on left or right leadership themselves, rather than leave it up to a centrist legislator. I see this as a "LO2E" situation. I feel that any method but a median-seeker is doomed to misplace the median legislator. > > Still, I understand the desire to over-represent the median. Here's a > modest proposal for a legislative body: > I would like to represent the center a bit more... If there's to be a single house, then I'd like between 1/5 and 1/2 to be elected by a median-seeker, and the rest could be PR. Kevin Venzke [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @yahoo.fr gratuite et en fran�ais ! Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com ---- Election-methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
