--- On Thu, 18/6/09, Michael Allan <m...@zelea.com> wrote: > > Juho Laatu wrote: > > > Do you mean that one individual vote > > > practically never changes the result > > > of a large election? > > > > > > One can see this from two viewpoints. > > > 1) can I change the result > > > 2) can I and similar minded people > > > together change the result > > Raph Frank wrote: > > Well, you only control yourself. > > For perspective: The influence of an individual vote on the > results is > expected to be different between private and public > systems. The > actual influence of a private vote is usually exactly > zero. I guess > it depends a little on the voting method, but it's almost > always zero > in FPTP. > > On the other hand, the influence of a public vote is > usually positive, > though incalculable. It is incalculable because the > weight of a > public expression per se cannot be felt in a strictly > subjective, > individual context. It can only be felt in an > inter-subjective, > social context. > > Juho, you're perhaps making the opposite mistake? You > look at private > voting from an inter-subjective persepective. I don't > think that's > valid. The vote itself can have no influence on the > behaviour of > other voters. It typically has no influence at all, > except on the > voter herself. So it's purely subjective.
In elections votes are typically kept secret until counted. So they are not supposed to influence the decision of other voters. My thinking was that although one vote does not influence the decisions of others, the factors that influenced the voting behaviour of one voter are mostly the same also for other voters, and similar minded voters are therefore likely to make similar decisions. The individual voter may thus trust that other voters will be there (except if his/her opinions are marginal) and together they will influence the outcome of the election. => "Unless I'm alone, we can influence." Juho > > (What's also interesting is the objective perspective of > manipulation. > But that means looking at the influence of money and > power, and not > votes per se.) > > -- > Michael Allan > > Toronto, 647-436-4521 > http://zelea.com/ > > ---- > Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info > ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info