Post AxTQKsXM72nDswLfQO by ike@pkm.social
 (DIR) More posts by ike@pkm.social
 (DIR) Post #AxN3wkNFRn1Tg5wufo by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-08-20T19:39:18Z
       
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       [new draft post] The whole point of a democracy https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/08/20/the-whole-point-of-a-democracy/index.html
       
 (DIR) Post #AxN66K6y951L1w1r84 by oliversampson@sigmoid.social
       2025-08-20T20:03:24Z
       
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       @interfluidity A very good social science complement to this post is from the Know Your Enemy podcast:Know Your Enemy: The Minority Voters Moving Right (w/ Daniel Martinez HoSang)Episode webpage: https://know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/w-dan-hosang-SJ_ZIOOuMedia file: https://chrt.fm/track/F9DF47/cdn.simplecast.com/audio/8b7e1dd6-7328-4a2c-b91f-a3bfaf4f8f02/episodes/ecb5763e-0906-46dc-9fda-550937b5043e/audio/40ef41b3-fb26-418e-9ade-9dc37f5af630/default_tc.mp3
       
 (DIR) Post #AxTQKsXM72nDswLfQO by ike@pkm.social
       2025-08-23T21:18:24Z
       
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       @interfluidity Its probably a losing platform, but I wish there were a candidate committed to strengthening democracy, representation, and addressing issues causing polarization:- gerrymandering in both blue and red states- voting security - money in politics - first-past-the-post / winner-take-all instead of ranked-choice- winners keep winning dynamicsYet a candidate would have to focus on all that w/o stepping on a mine while appealing to enough partisan voters on their pet issue.
       
 (DIR) Post #AxTUsic9uVNcm0zEuW by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-08-23T22:09:22Z
       
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       @ike Electoral reform is first on my list of reforms we require to have anything like a sane government. I prefer approval voting to ranked choice, and would insist upon some form of proportional representation for the House, but in general I strongly endorse your list. 1/
       
 (DIR) Post #AxTUtWsB3Du0eArjou by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-08-23T22:09:32Z
       
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       @ike I don’t think it’s impossible. Other democracies have managed serious electoral reform, even though it obviously endangers incumbents in the existing system. I think there’s some hope that US party “brands” get so completely destroyed that the winning pitch for candidates is to blow up the two party system. /fin
       
 (DIR) Post #AxTUzqvFQ7HIZDJj1s by ike@pkm.social
       2025-08-23T22:10:39Z
       
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       @interfluidity Ill have to look up that voting system. I know there are more alternatives but Im just most familiar with Ranked Choice.
       
 (DIR) Post #AxTVJqOr4Y9YjphMh6 by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-08-23T22:14:14Z
       
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       @ike Yeah. Ranked choice is the most prominent single-winner alternative voting system in the US, but I think it has problems with complexity (both in the ballot and in the apparently paradoxical outcomes that sometimes occur) and with the kinds of strategic voting it encourages (to avoid those paradoxical outcomes). 1/
       
 (DIR) Post #AxTVVVtL9D8GbkWQ5Y by interfluidity@zirk.us
       2025-08-23T22:16:23Z
       
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       @ike Approval voting also (all nonstochastic electoral systems) also admit strategic voting, but the situation is simpler and voters can understand an affirmative case for not voting strategically, and voters who do abstain from voting strategically can become determinative of elections, so there is a kind of incentive to generosity. I’ve written a bit about it here: https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/03/28/how-to-understand-approval-voting/index.html /fin