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A review by xaviershay
Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It) by William Poundstone
4.0
3 stars + 1 for new useful information on a topic I am unread on.
Summary: Ranked voting systems are fundamentally broken (proven with math), plurality vote (American system) is *really* broken: major parties regularly fund extremist parties *on the other side* to try and splinter off votes from their main opponent. As a result, democrats regularly win deeply conservative states (and vice versa). Clearly an insane state of affairs. Range voting (i.e. give each candidate 1-5 rating) is the least broken, but politically difficult to enact because it disrupts the status quo of political consultants. Instant run-off voting is still a broken ranked system (what we use in Australia), but probably the most likely reform candidate in the US today because it would still preserve the two-party system - doesn't change the norm too much but allleviates some of the more egrerious vote splitting cases.
Summary: Ranked voting systems are fundamentally broken (proven with math), plurality vote (American system) is *really* broken: major parties regularly fund extremist parties *on the other side* to try and splinter off votes from their main opponent. As a result, democrats regularly win deeply conservative states (and vice versa). Clearly an insane state of affairs. Range voting (i.e. give each candidate 1-5 rating) is the least broken, but politically difficult to enact because it disrupts the status quo of political consultants. Instant run-off voting is still a broken ranked system (what we use in Australia), but probably the most likely reform candidate in the US today because it would still preserve the two-party system - doesn't change the norm too much but allleviates some of the more egrerious vote splitting cases.