WHAT'S FAIR? DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK
In Section 13.2, we discussed five different conditions for determining the fairness of an election. Now it's time to explore how voting procedures and ideas about fairness impact elections in the real world. In this project, we'll consider the fairness of ranked-choice voting, which is equivalent to the plurality with elimination method that is used with preference ballots.
As a recap, here are the fairness criteria.
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The Condorcet criterion states that if a candidate wins the head-to-head comparison against every other candidate, then that candidate should also win the overall election in a fair voting system.
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The majority criterion states that if a candidate receives a majority of votes in an election, that candidate should win.
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The monotonicity criterion states that if a candidate wins an early round of an election and only gains support and does not lose support in subsequent rounds, then that candidate should win the election.
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The irrelevant alternatives criterion states that if a candidate wins an election, then that same candidate would win the election even if at least one candidate withdraws from the election.
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The dictator criterion states that no single vote is allowed to decide the outcome of an election.
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Find an article online from a reputable source explaining some of the downsides of ranked-choice voting. Record your source and two or three key takeaways from the article.
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Find an article online from a reputable source explaining some of the advantages of ranked-choice voting. Record your source and two or three key takeaways from the article.
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Find an article online from a reputable source detailing a voting procedure in a state or municipality that uses a vote-tallying method other than majority rule. Record your source and two or three key takeaways describing the method. Reflecting on what you've learned about fairness in voting, state one downside and one advantage of the method described.