Concepts — by topic (cross-method view)¶
This folder holds the library's cross-method concept pages — the ideas that don't belong to any single method — in two forms: the flat concept pages (below) and the topic hubs (subfolders): thin index pages that gather one cross-method idea and link out to each method's authoritative treatment. Method-specific concept pages stay in the per-method folders under 07_Concepts (STAR_Voting/, RCV_IRV/, RCV_Ranked_Robin/…), because that's how most people arrive.
The hubs don't duplicate content — the detailed write-ups stay in the per-method folders. A hub is just the shared definition plus a "which methods, and where" table, so there's almost nothing to keep in sync. Browse by method or by topic, whichever fits.
Start here — the meta-question¶
Before the per-topic criteria: what are we even optimizing for?
- What makes a good winner? — the "correct" winner, consensus/Condorcet vs. utilitarian vs. majority, and why there's no single ideal.
- What makes a voting method good? — the criteria beyond the winner (simplicity, summability, auditability, honesty/strategy, competition), VSE, and "a perfect system will never exist."
- Election simulation models — how VSE studies generate synthetic electorates (Impartial Culture, spatial, Mallows, urn…), and why results depend on the model.
- AI advice — a verdict, on the record — the one page that does pick: asked to play all-knowing and all-powerful, the library's AI names STAR by a nose over Ranked Robin, shows the reasoning, states where the pick flips — and discloses its own leans first.
Topic hubs¶
| Topic | What it compares | Hub |
|---|---|---|
| Summability | which counts add up from precinct subtotals (STAR ✅, Ranked Robin ✅, IRV ❌) | Summability |
| Monotonicity | where more support can backfire (all elimination methods ❌; STAR ✅, Ranked Robin ✅) | Monotonicity |
| Center squeeze | who eliminates the moderate (Hare/Contingent ❌; whole-ballot methods ✅) | Center squeeze |
| Condorcet efficiency | who elects the head-to-head winner (Ranked Robin/BTR ✅, STAR ⚠️, IRV ❌) — and how often, measured | Condorcet efficiency |
| Ties & tie-breaking | where ties arise and how the lot order settles them | Ties & tie-breaking |
| Majority Criterion | must a majority's favorite win? + the Relaxed Majority Criterion & the Later-No-Harm link (IRV ✅; STAR ❌ but mild; Score/Approval ❌) | Majority Criterion |
| "Majority" / "minority" candidate | the words, not the criterion — five senses of "majority candidate", what "majority" means on a score ballot, why "minority winner" is nearly automatic in a big field, and what makes it a real indictment | Majority & minority candidates |
| Participation | can showing up to vote ever hurt you? the no-show/Twin paradoxes, live (Score/Approval/Choose-One ✅; STAR ❌ rare; IRV ❌ readily; Condorcet methods ❌ provably) | Participation |
| Districting | when the lines decide, not the count — the reinforcement paradox, the candidate who wins no district, seats vs. votes, and why a better ballot cannot fix any of it (no method is immune) | Districting |
| Burial | sinking a rival you actually like, so they lose a comparison they'd win (Ranked Robin/Copeland ❌ its named risk; Borda ❌ notoriously; STAR ⚠️ rarely pays; IRV ✅ later-no-harm) | Burial |
| The four kinds of insincere vote | the Equal Vote taxonomy — favorite betrayal, burial, bullet voting, and the hedge — which ballot each one is even possible on, and which method each attacks | Insincere votes |
(Add a new hub when a topic is clearly treated in 2+ method folders. A candidate still open: vote-splitting — see the split-voting set for the worked examples.)
Concept pages in this folder¶
The problem, and the case for reform: our voting system is broken · the problem, in four causes · the spoiler effect · wasted votes · two-party dominance · false majorities — over half the seats on under half the votes · does a better ballot end polarization? · plurality · strategic voting · Why STAR Voting · RCV-IRV vs STAR
Ballots & what they capture: what is a voting method? · what a method reads — its informational basis · a ballot and a count · ballot & terminology basics · alternate ballot styles · same opinions, every method — the line-up · preference · scoring methods vs. ranked voting · the ranked-ballot method zoo · 3-2-1 voting (vs. STAR) · tabulation, step by step · pairwise counting & the preference matrix · central tabulation
Evaluating methods: what makes a good winner? · what makes a voting method good? · criteria at a glance · the strategic pathologies (five Molochs) · PVSI — the strategic-incentive metric · Gibbard–Satterthwaite · does Arrow's theorem apply to STAR? · the social welfare function — what Arrow's theorem is about · May's theorem · "one person, one vote" · the Smith set · the uncovered set · tournament solutions · the cycle–cocycle decomposition · election simulation models · simulate utilities, not ballots · the statistics you need · variance — the statistical name for "divisive" · the spatial voting model · distortion — the formal price of a ranked ballot · misrepresentation — the measure that hands Borda the trophy · distributed voting — the price of counting by district · cardinal utility — the number a score ballot reaches for · ordinal vs. cardinal, as mechanism design · expert consensus & IRV · AI advice — a verdict, with disclosures · counting under encryption
Mechanics & multi-winner: electing more than one · comparing multi-winner methods · quorum · the YAML election file & its pipeline
People, orgs & learning paths: how to learn about voting methods · the mathematics of social choice — what to study, in what order · books on voting methods · choosing among the EVC methods · advocacy organizations · who's who in voting reform · in memoriam: Jameson Quinn