Gaming the Vote : Why Elections Arent Fair (and What We Can Do about It)

English

ISBN: 0809048930

EAN: 9780809048939

Category: Mathematics / Game Theory/Political Science / General/Political Science / Political Process / General/Political Science / Political Process / Elections/

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Release Date: 02/01/2008

Synopsis: Our Electoral System is Fundamentally Flawed, But Theres a Simple and Fair Solution At least five U.S. presidential elections have been won by the second most popular candidate. The reason was a spoiler--a minor candidate who takes enough votes away from the most popular candidate to tip the election to someone else. The spoiler effect is more than a glitch. It is a consequence of one of the most surprising intellectual discoveries of the twentieth century: the impossibility theorem of Nobel laureate economist Kenneth Arrow. The impossibility theorem asserts that voting is fundamentally unfair--a finding that has not been lost on todays political consultants. Armed with polls, focus groups, and smear campaigns, political strategists are exploiting the mathematical faults of the simple majority vote. In recent election cycles, this has led to such unlikely tactics as Republicans funding ballot drives for Green spoilers and Democrats paying for right-wing candidates radio ads. Gaming the Vote shows that there is a solution to the spoiler problem that will satisfy both right and left. A system called range voting, already widely used on the Internet, is the fairest voting method of all, according to computer studies. Despite these findings, range voting remains controversial, and Gaming the Vote assesses the obstacles confronting any attempt to change the American electoral system. The latest of several books by William Poundstone on the theme of how important scientific ideas have affected the real world, Gaming the Vote is a wry expos? of how the political system really works, and a call to action.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Gaming the Vote : Why Elections Arent Fair (and What We Can Do about It)

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Hardcover

Height: 1.3 inches

Width: 6.5 inches

Length: 9.25 inches

Weight: 20.85 oz

Pages: 352