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, March 28, 2019 HOUSE OF COMMONS THROWS OUT PERFECT COMPROMISE It got over 250 1st preferences, definitely. It got over 100 2nd preferences, maybe. and a few 3rd/4th preferences, perhaps… but it got thrown out. Binary voting is like a thermometer with only two readings, ‘hot’ and ‘cold’. The warmth of the House towards this or that option cannot be measured by such a blunt instrument.
Thursday, March 28, 2019 PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE 26.03.2019 (INDICATIVE) BINARY VOTES ARE ORWELLIAN In 2003, the late Robin Cook tried to persuade the House to adopt preference voting, in vain, for “this would have required the technological development of a pencil and a piece of paper,” he said, “far too big a step for our parliament and its medieval procedures.”
Wednesday, March 27, 2019 Our article on the indicative vote is published today in the Irish Times. The House of Commons can learn from the experience of the Citizens’ Assembly
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/indicative-voting-an-irish-solution-to-the-brexit-problem-1.3840063
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 (Indicative) Binary Votes Are Orwellian In 2003, the late Robin Cook tried to persuade the House to adopt preference voting, in vain, for “this would have required the technological development of a pencil and a piece of paper,” he said, “far too big a step for our parliament and its medieval procedures.” His efforts were prompted by a series of majority votes (on Lords reform) – which Lord Desai had warned would be “daft,” (Hansard, 22.1.2003). They were indeed inconclusive.
press release Sunday, March 24, 2019 A series of majority votes might indicate nothing - as in 2003. A knock out system, the two-round system or AV, could give the wrong outcome. Best use a ranking system, we say in our latest press release.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 openDemocracy has just published our latest press release:
The Danish parliament uses plurality voting; the Finns and Swedes opt for serial voting; the Norwegians have provision for two-round voting. Sadly, even when the question isn’t binary – and Brexit is definitely not binary – Westminster still relies on binary ballots.
Monday, March 18, 2019 The BBC Radio 4 Today programme, 18th March broadcast an interview with Peter on multi-option decision-making. Hear it on Iplayer (53:30).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0003cth
Monday, March 4, 2019 Phil Kearney adds this article to a debate which still hasn't started.
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/
