The best voting rules are inclusive, yet well centeredand decisive.
They can make a group more popular, yet stableand quick.

	Primer	See the merits of 4 great voting rules.
	Games	See the simple steps in each type of tally.
The free eBook quickly covers both and a bit more.
El libro en español. O para America del Norte. 正确的民主 Chinese. الكتاب الإلكتروني باللغة العربية Arabic.

Democratic Solutions
This site shows ways to help democracy in any size, from a classroom to a country, and at all steps from choosing nominees to setting budgets.
The tools and concepts build from one type of decision to the next:

	Single-Winner Election	Condorcet rules pick a widely-popular and central chairperson.
	Multi-Winner Election	Proportional Representation builds a diverse and balanced council.
	Mixed-Member Council	The chair and reps make a centered and balanced council. New!

	Policy Decision	Condorcet and rules of order lead to a central policy. New!
	Project Selection	Fair Share Voting lets all big groups choose projects. New!
	Budget Setting	Fair Share Voting responsibly adjusts all agency budgets. New!

Tragedies of Democracy

Old ways of adding up votes fail to represent large groups in many places. In the USA, North Carolina had enough black voters to fill two election districts. But they were a 25% minority spread over eight districts. So, for over 100 years they won no seats in Congress. As voters they were silenced —with tragic results.

The Northwestern U.S. was ripped apart for many years, as forestry policies were reversed again and again. Hasty logging in times of weak regulation wasted resources. Sudden limits on logging bankrupted some workers and small businesses. If this policy pendulum swings, it cuts down forests and species, families and towns. What can big swings in other policies do?

These tragedies were caused by voting rules often used by nations and towns, co-ops and corporate boards.

Running for president in South Korea, the former aide to a military dictator faced two reformers. The two got a majority of the votes but split their supporters. So the aide won a plurality. (37%, 28%, 27%, 8%)

A plurality vote-counting rule elects whoever gets the most votes; a majority, 50% is not required. The winner claimed a mandate to continue oppressive policies. Years later he was convicted of treason in the tragic killing of pro-democracy demonstrators.

What's Wrong?
after George H. Hallett Jr.

Our defective voting rules come from the failure to see there are different uses for voting, and these require different types of voting. “We try to carry over to more complicated situations a method which is only suitable in deciding the simplest sort of issue, that is, whether a question with only two possible answers shall be answered yes or no.” “For such an issue a simple majority election is, of course, sufficient.”

But as soon as three candidates run for one office, the race becomes more complicated. Then a yes-no vote is no longer suitable.

Sometimes what we want is not a solitary officer, but a council that represents all the voters. Then we do not need a system of dividing voters into winners and losers. Instead, we need a way of condensing them, in the right proportions, into their chosen leaders.

A soapbox supports the shoes of a speaker.

DEMOCRACY EVOLVES
Eras, Election Rules and Typical Councils

Humor for politicians: Who wrote, “He is a barbarian and thinks the customs of his tribe... are the laws of nature.”
1) George Bernard Shaw, 2) Voltaire, 3) Pat Robertson, 4) Le Pen ?

4 light reps stand left of center, 5 dark reps to the right.
Typical Council Elected by a Plurality Rule

The 1800s: Winner-Take-All Districts lead to Off-Center Councils.
Some English-speaking nations still use England's old plurality rule. It elects only one representative from a district, and winning it does not require a majority. It merely elects the one who gets the most 'yes' votes.
In a district where only the biggest party wins a rep, only two big parties thrive. So the voters get only two real candidates; that is a very limited choice. Each district's bias tends to make its only seat 'safe' for one party. So most voters get no real choice. A few of those who do get choices can make majorities swerve from side to side. The council majority sets all policies (dark blue in picture) in another battle of winner take all.

1 rep stands far left, 3 left of center, 0 at center, 4 on right, 1 far right.

Typical Council Elected by a PR Rule

1900s: Fair-Share Representation leads to Off-Center Majorities.
Proportional Representation (PR) was developed around 1900 to end some problems caused by plurality rule. Most democracies now use PR. It elects several people to represent each election district. PR can give a group that earns, say 20% of the votes, 20% of the council seats; thus PR always gives large groups their fair shares of seats.

It leads to broad representation of issues and opinions. But usually there is no central party (C in picture); and the two biggest parties rarely work together. So the side with the most seats (blue and black) forms the ruling majority — and then enacts policies skewed to one side.

1 rep stands far left, 2 on left of 2 at center, 3 on right, 1 far right.

LAWS

Ensemble Elected by Central and PR Rules

2000s: Ensemble Councils lead to Broad, Centered Majorities.
New ensemble councils will elect most reps by PR, plus a few by a central voting rule (C in picture). The next page shows how a central rule picks winners with wide appeal and views near the middle of the voters. Its winners are thus near the middle of a PR council. So they are the council's powerful swing votes.

Most voters in the winners' wide base of support don't want averaged or centrist policies. They want policies to unite the best ideas from all groups.

A “centrist policy” enacts a narrow point of view; it excludes other opinions and needs. A “one-sided policy” also ignores rival ideas. A “compromise policy” tries to negotiate rival plans, but opposing plans forced together often work poorly.

In contrast, a “balanced policy” unites compatible ideas from all sides. This process needs advocates for diverse proposals. And more than that, it needs powerful moderators.

A broad balanced majority works to enact broad balanced policies — which give the greatest chance for happiness to the greatest number of people. Excellent policies are a goal of accurate democracy. Their success is measured in a typical voter's education and income, safety and freedom, leisure and health.

Old tally rules often cause one-sided results and tragedies. An ensemble is inclusive; yet it is strongly centered and decisive. So it can make the organization popular, yet stable and quick. The best rules for spending and policies follow this pattern...

...as you can see on the quick graphic tour of the best voting rules.

The primer and games show why and how:
Different uses for voting need different types of voting.
The best voting rules strengthen the ballots for voters.
So they strengthen the mandates for winners.
That means they lift the proven support for:

a Chairperson from a plurality to a majority of voters,
a Council from a plurality to over three quarters,
a Budget from a few power blocs to all members,
a Policy from a one-sided to an over-all majority.

Power is more principled when we tally
fair shares for seats or spending and a
true majority for a president or policy.

Next: the voting-rule primer

1 Chair	2 Reps	3 Council	4 Policy	5 Projects	6 Budgets
A Map to Accurate Democracy Six practical uses for voting shape this ebook. You may read the introductions to the tasks to see their variety. The concepts build from one use of voting to the next.
Elections			Legislation
Choice ballots Tally pictures Tally table Instant Runoff Other rules Voting tactics Voting districts	Merits of PR Women in PR STV for PR Visual STV Graphics 2 2D charts PR ballots	Merits Merits 2 CW+STV Other rules Notes Seats Shares	Motions Ballots Trades Tactics Cycles Other rules Amend	Uses Needs Notes Sim Ballots Tallies LAR	$ Follies Ballots Other rules Notes Medians HZ Points Coalitions
Condorcet's rule fills chapter 1 on electing a chairperson. Chapter 4 on setting a policy looks at it more deeply. Chapters 3 and 5 also use it. Transferable votes are introduced by IRV and STV in chapters 1 and 2. Chapters 5 and 6 show how they can fund projects and departments.

The key terms of this ebook (fair shares, mandates, transferable votes and Condorcet tallies) occur in almost every chapter. So the Table of Contents may help more than a search.

Printouts.

español.

The voting simulation shows the character of each rule.
But it requires a basic knowledge of voting rules.
The free software for voting does too.

NEW! The presentation about Fair Share Voting
from the 2012 Participatory Budgeting Conference!
English: Open Office slide show, Printout (PDF).
Español: Open Office diapositivas, impresora.
中国版 Chinese: Open Office 幻灯片, 打印 (PDF).
comodo_secured_site_seal We welcome questions, comments and corrections:

© 1996-2016 AccurateDemocracy Next: the voting-rule primer

DEMOCRACY EVOLVES Eras, Election Rules and Typical Councils

DEMOCRACY EVOLVES
Eras, Election Rules and Typical Councils