DEMOCRACY IS FOR
EVERYBODY, NOT
JUST FOR A (OR
THE) MAJORITY.
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The Institute is named after Jean-Charles de Borda, and hence the well-known voting procedure, the Borda Count BC; but Jean-Charles actually invented what is now called the Modified Borda Count, MBC - the difference is subtle:
In a vote on n options, the voter may cast m preferences; and, of course, m < n.
In a BC, points are awarded to (1st, 2nd ... last) preferences cast according to the rule (n, n-1 ... 1) {or (n-1, n-2 ... 0)} whereas,
in an MBC, points are awarded to (1st, 2nd ... last) preferences cast according to the rule (m, m-1 ... 1).
The difference can be huge, especially when the topic is controversial: the BC benefits those who cast only a 1st preference; the MBC encourages the consensual, those who submit not only a 1st preference but also their 2nd (and subsequent) compromise option(s). And if (nearly) every voter states their compromise option(s), an MBC can identify the collective compromise.
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DECISION-MAKER
Inclusive voting app
https://debordavote.com
THE APP TO BEAT ALL APPS, APPSOLUTELY!
(The latest in a long-line of electronic voting for decision-making; our first was in 1991.)
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FINANCES
The Institute was estabished in 1997 with a cash grant of £3,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Charitabe Trust, and has received the occasional sum from Northern Ireland's Community Relations Council and others. Today it relies on voluntary donations and the voluntary work of its board, while most running expenses are paid by the director.
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A BLOG
"De Borda abroad." From Belfast to Beijing and beyond... and back. Starting in Vienna with the Sept 2017 TEDx talk, I give lectures in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Tehran, Beijing, Tianjin, Xuzhou, Hong Kong and Taiwan... but not in Pyongyang. Then back via Mongolia (where I had been an election observer in June 2017) and Moscow (where I'd worked in the '80s).
I have my little fold-up Brompton with me - surely the best way of exploring any new city! So I prefer to go by train, boat or bus, and then cycle wherever in each new venue; and all with just one plastic water bottle... or that was the intention!
In Sept 2019, I set off again, to promote the book of the journey. After the ninth book launch in Taipei University, I went to stay with friends in a little village in Gansu for the Chinese New Year. The rat. Then came the virus, lockdown... and I was stuck.
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The Hospital for Incurable Protestants The Mémoire of a Collapsed Catholic This is the story of a pacifist in a conflict zone, in Northern Ireland and the Balkans. Only in e-format, but only £5.15. Available from Amazon. |
The director alongside the statue of Jean-Charles de Borda, capitaine et savant, in l’École Navale in Brest, 24.9.2010. Photo by Gwenaelle Bichelot.
Here's the YouTube, the PowerPoint, and the text of the speech (more or less).
Thursday, February 21, 2019 Letter in the Irish News. See 2019-1, 2018-17, etc. Dear Editor, The British political establishment seems to be mesmerised by "the mystique of the majority,” to use Sir Michael Dummett’s phrase. Nearly all of them act as if a complex problem like the UK’s relationship with the EU was, and still can be, resolved in a simplistic, divisive binary vote.
Monday, January 21, 2019 Unfortunately, all too few people question binary voting; but it's part of the problem! Political Science Association of Ireland, PSAI, has just published:
https://politicalreform.ie/2019/01/21/does-brexit-demand-non-binary-decision-making/
Monday, December 24, 2018 Paddy was probably the bravest, most committed, most linguistically gifted of all post-war UK politicians.
Here he is at our 2012 book launch in the House of Lords, (2011-9 and 2012-4), along with the late Elizabeth Meehan (2018-1) and his fellow lord, Mike Boyce. I first met Paddy back in the 70s at a Liberal Party function: we were both ex-military, both of Northern Ireland, and both of Belfast. So he took me to Yeovil, and I was highly impressed by his energetic campaigning. Our paths crossed again in Bosnia, where he was the much-loved High Representative, 2002-6. A Serbian friend of mine sat next to him, flying to London one year. "Sarajevo?" "Oh yes, I've been there," said Paddy, never one to boast. We were often in touch, so I signed my next letter to him, boastfully, Srdačan Pozdrav, (Serbo-Croat for 'yours sincerely'); to which his secretary replied, Dear Srdačan Pozdrav.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018 openDemocracy has just publihsed:
https://opendemocracy.net/uk/peter-emerson/for-people-to-have-their-say-on-brexit-how-best-can-multi-option-conundrum-be-resol
and see 2018-16, 2018-14, etc.
Thursday, November 22, 2018 /Users/owner/Desktop/BrexEmer.m4a
Evan Davies gave de Borda an interview on his PM programme on Mon 12th Nov.
See also 2018-14 and 2017-5
Friday, October 26, 2018 Dubin City University has one article: http://dcubrexitinstitute.eu/2018/10/a-better-measure-of-the-will-of-the-people/
and Queen's University Belfast has another: http://qpol.qub.ac.uk/brexit-a-meaningful-vote/
Monday, August 20, 2018 http://qpol.qub.ac.uk/brexit-a-meaningful-vote/ (See 2018-12, -11, -7, -2, 2017-14, -1, 2016-12, -9 and especially 2016-1, in which we predicted the result of the June 2016 Brexit nonsense.)
Monday, August 6, 2018 Infacts has just published, "There's more than one way to count a three-way People's Vote." It’s on: https://infacts.org/theres-more-than-one-way-to-count-a-three-way-peoples-vote/
Monday, July 16, 2018 A review, University College London, into the conduct of referendums, calls for multi-option ballots. Because of our submission? Maybe.
And it follows on from, and supports, Ireland's Citizens' Assembly. See 2018-3.
