Why should it be considered important to find a majority when none exists? In my view, the very concept of 'majority' is meaningless when there are three or more candidates, and appears to be based on several logical fallacies including:
(1) Round number fallacy: The 50% figure is viewed as magical because it has the appearance of being a "natural" threshold. Which it is--if there are only two candidates.
It is a natural threshold regardless of the number of candidates.
If > 50% of the population desire a certain option, that option should be selected despite of the number of other options out there.
(2) Circular reasoning: Majority proponents generally have a particular method in mind for arriving at a "majority". This method is favored because it produces a majority, but the majority is defined in terms of the method.
This seems to be false as well.
Take this example:
40:A 35:C>B 30:B
That I believe B should win, is independent of any particular method.
Why should B win?
Because it is obviously preferred by a majority of people over every other option.
Now, the fact that I can point to a method that will select B is a reason why I would prefer that method to a method that would select something other then B.
(3) Equivocation: The majority produced by a particular method is often touted as though it were equivalent to an outright majority of first-choice votes.
No, I would not say equivalent, but it is close enough that in the case above, the difference between equivalence and something else is, at best, elusive.
But it would be easy to make a case that a candidate with a 49% plurality (or 45% or even 40%) really enjoys more public support in a 3-way race than someone with only 26% of first-choice votes and a similar number of 2nd-choice votes.
Ok, so you have an option where 49% of the population marks A first. 26% of the population marks B first.
However, we cannot stop there as we have not accounted for the other 25% of the voters.
If all 25% prefer B over A, why should B not win?
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