On Friday 27 Feb 2004 12:25 pm, Steve Eppley wrote: > The argument that the winner was much better than the > rest only explains why there was a Condorcet winner (an > alternative such that, for each of the other > alternatives, some majority ranks it over the other). It > doesn't explain why there weren't any cycles among the > lesser alternatives.
Ooops, Once again I have shown my ignorance in such matters. :-) Thank you Steve for correcting me. Speaking of ignorance, a couple of weeks ago I wrote to this list asking for your help especially in regard to some theories that are behind the decisions I have made when developping the site. The only help I received was in the form of welcome criticism behind the theoretical choices behind my decisions which were made, again, out of ignorance. My reply is currently available online: http://www.masquilier.org/republic/election/solution.php I haven't yet received a definite answer in this matter and I am asking you again to enlighten me. The board I am developing has its origin in this discussion thread: http://forums.zynot.org/viewtopic.php?t=56 In it, Charun argues vehemently that for Condorcet to retain its validity/superiority, all the candidates must be strictly ranked from the first to the last. That's how I coded the board at first and that's also the reason why I wrote my "solution" page. Then, a few people from this list told me I was wrong, but then I asked: are there two school of thoughts, the experts being of different opinions or on the contrary, nobody but the poster mentionned above has ever claimed that condorcet must rank candidates in a strict manner. To see the difference, you can try to create two polls in my site, one using each type of condorcet. Try then casting ballots in each with candidates having the same rank. One type will refuse it. I have not found definite answer on the web nor got any from the members of this list. So I unashamedly ask again for your help: does it make any sense for me to carry on supporting the "full ranking" condorcet option in the board code base as well as in the documentation I am working on? Remember that what I am trying to create is an educative and fun and easy to use tool for getting a wider public acquainted with condorcet and approval. A better public understanding is our only hope to see plurality superceded by better voting options. My hope is that the list members and the different condorcet sites webmasters can cooperate toward the same goal. I rely, now as much as before, on your help and good will to get the message across to a larger audience. yours, Augustin. -- www.masquilier.org Condorcet, Approval alternative voting. In order to prevent people from receiving viruses that would seem to originate from my email, if you use Microsoft Windows you do not have permission to add this address to your address book. If I am in your address book, please remove me. Of course, this does not apply to GNU/Linux users. Thank you. ---- Election-methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
