Entree > Republic > Elections > A different way to vote

| Entree | Agora | Republic |

| Election | phpBB Alternative Election MOD |

A different way to vote

Promoting better polling options

Welcome to all visitors

If you are knowledgeable about election methods

The articles in this sections are more geared towards beginners. I doubt there is something new for you. It is even likely that you know more about election methods than I do.

There are however other parts of this web site that are especially for you. If, for you, Approval and Condorcet voting are not only an interesting topic, but also something you would like to see used in your country's elections, then you are in the right place.

This section of my personal web site will exclusively be about voting methods. The stated aim is to promote better voting methods and campaign so that they are more widely used both on the web (in message board like the Agora here, and in web communities world wide) and in local and national elections.

This site should become the headquarter on the web for alternative voting education, promotion and campaign. With your help, I hope to gather information on politicians supporting Approval and Condorcet voting.

Of course, I would like to work in cooperation with other similar web sites.

Campaigning doesn't have to be time consuming (I know everyone is busy!). One or two hours a month could already make a difference, especially when there will be ten, twenty, thirty people each donating one hour of their time once in a while.

I am already working two hours a day on this project. If you would like to support me, all I am asking is one hour of your time once a month or two. Here are some very simple things you can do to help:

If you are not (so) familiar with Condorcet Voting and Approval Voting

If you don't know much about voting methods, that's definitely something you'd like to learn more about. A simple technical issue can make a huge difference in our society.

First, you can read the featured articles listed below. This site is still under development, and more resources will regularly be uploaded here. Fortunately, there are many other web sites giving a good introduction to Condorcet and Approval voting. Check them out in the menu below.

Also, make sure you try out those voting methods. Register and have fun while casting your ballot and creating your own polls in the Agora.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, try to find out whom among your country's local or national politician supports Condorcet voting or Approval voting. Let me know (by private message or by posting a message in the Agora) of your findings so that I can publish them here.

If it's not your first visit here

Welcome back!

Beside everything I have already said above, may I suggest you to:

I hope you keep enjoying this site.

A message board unlike any other on the web

This site has only very recently been posted on the web. This section is still incomplete because most of the time so far has been spent developping the Agora. Try it out: it's a message board with an important difference. The polling features have been modified so that you can create polls or cast your vote in ongoing polls using different election methods. It's easy to use and can be fun, too. If you want to try those new features out, you can go to the Testing, Testing... Agora and just test this new tool. After that, if you wish, you can create your own polls in the Create your own polls... section and invite your friends to cast their ballot. If there is no poll relevant for your country, just create one, using the names of celebrities, actors, singers or politicians that are better known in your country. Of course, you can always take part in other ongoing polls in the same Agora.

Featured articles

More articles coming

The articles below and more will be posted as they are completed. Part of the documents explaining condorcet is already online. Check it out in the menu below.

And also...

I am in the process of creating this section with, for background, an intense presidential election going on here, in Taiwan and of course another one in the US. Of course, France and Taiwan are close to my heart, so eventually this site will be translated into Chinese and French and will provide many examples from elections not only from those two countries, but also from the UK, the USA...

Keep coming back to see the progress made and take part in new polls in the Agora.

Towards a fairer and improved Election Method

There needn't be a general discontent with politics and elections

Must politicians really need to be that self serving?

If you haven't already noticed, ask around you and you'll quickly find out that many people are not interested in politics and especially fed up with self-serving politicians. One must agree with them: political life is strife with problems, infighting, corruption etc... Yet, people may be surprised when they realise that the root of those problems may be much simpler than they thought.

Politics should be the science of discussing public policies and share ideas so that the best laws are voted and the best action taken. Politics in this sense should be a topic of interest to every concerned citizen. Today, however, people have the (right) perception that politics is merely the art of politicians fighting each other in order to gain power. Unless one is interested in blood sports, one gets easily tired of such a poor show.

An election should be the process by which people dedicated to public service are selected to serve the citizens. But in truth an election is today only match of bloody infighting between people lusting for power.

It is astonishing to realise that the cause of this sad situation is simply because we chose an election method that fails to fulfill properly its functions.

A truly simple solution

The election methods a country uses is important: only a good method will ensure that the ideal candidate, the one who represents most of the population and whose policies are approved of by the majority of people, will be elected.

By using a slightly different election method such as Approval voting or Condorcet voting, many of the problems surrounding the elections and political life in general would be solved.

Try it out!

Now, you can stop by in the Agora, register and take part in existing Condorcet and Approval polls and create your own...

Articles

Featured articles

Introduction to Alternative Election methods

The following articles will be posted as soon as they are ready.

Campaigning for change

World Elections and Political Parties Resources

Taiwan Elections

The 2004 Presidential election in Taiwan has come and gone, leaving a bitter feeling in the heart of many. So much violence, mutual hatred and distrust is not necessary at all. Here is more information more specific to Taiwan, showing how different the result would have been with a better voting system.

Making it happen!

Just so that our vote can really count for one full vote

Being interested in the society and the way it is headed makes me feel very concerned about whom I vote. The problem is that under plurality voting, a vote rarely represents the voters' true preferences. What's the point in choosing the candidates whose policies are closest to you, if you feel that your vote is wasted anyway?

That's precisely so that we can feel that our vote, our voice, really counts that we need to change the election method used. There is no need to speak about Election Method theories if the best theories are not put into practice. This site is dedicated to make better election methods really happen, at last.

Gathering information

I don't lack ideas about what can be done (I am just bit short of time!). I will publish a list of actions that can be done by anyone who is willing to do it. (Come back next month for more updates.)

You can help tremendously by gathering the following information, and communicating it to me (by private message or by posting a message in the Agora):

Also on the Web...

  1. Election Resources. org You will find links to Internet sites around the world which provide complete and detailed national and local election statistics, as well as other election resources.
  2. Economic Democracy Information Network (EDIN) a project dedicated to expanding the voice of community organizations on the Information Superhighway. The EDIN Project is sponsored by UC-Berkeley's Center for Community Economic Research (CCER).
    Have a look at their directories of issues. It doesn't look up to date, though.
  3. Elections and Electoral systems around the world A quite extensive list of links, organized per country.
    Worth having a look into it to see what we can dig out.

What's New...

Copyright Augustin Masquilier ©2004

This page is situated at http://www.masquilier.org/republic/election/index.php

It has been last updated on: 27 sep 2004

| Entree | Agora | Republic |