Lottery Voting

Posted on April 20, 2010 by peterstone

I’m reading Allan Gibbard’s paper on Lottery Voting, i.e., the “Random Dictator” rule. According to this rule, people vote for candidates the same way they normally would, but instead of the votes being counted, one vote is selected at random, and the outcome of that vote implemented. (“Manipulation of Schemes that Mix Voting with Chance,” Econometrica 45, April 1977). There have been a number of philosophical discussions of the idea over the years–most notable Akhil Reed Amar’s paper in the Yale Law Journal (1984)–but Gibbard’s paper is the central paper on the mathematics of the rule. Unhappily, the paper is very technical, and I find myself stuck at one point in the argument. Does anyone know the paper particularly well? I could use some guidance here.

Filed under: Elections, Sortition, Theory | 4 Comments »

Jorge Cancio: Invitation to a Debate

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Yoram Gat

Invitation to a Debate: Sortition and Sortition Chambers as Institutional Improvements of Democracy by Jorge Cancio. The English abstract follows. Main text is in Spanish.

I start off inviting my readers to exercise their imagination and then explaining a proposal of creating new “sortition chambers” on all administrative levels – from a chamber at the same level as the present-day Spanish Congress and Senate down to sortition chambers for each municipality. They essentially would be an addition to present-day institutions and would partake in the powers which are held today by elected representatives and officials, although the proposal envisages that in the short run they could be out-voted by the elective institutions. They would exercise their powers according to deliberative procedures.

Continue reading →

Filed under: History, Sortition, Theory | 6 Comments »

WPSA?

Posted on February 8, 2010 by peterstone

Calling all academics–is anyone planning to attend the upcoming annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association (WPSA) in San Francisco? It’s going to be held on April 1-3. Joel Parker (another Kleroterian) and I will be presenting papers on Saturday Afternoon (April 3), and I gather the panel still needs a discussant. Let me know if you’re interested.

Here’s the web address for the WPSA, with information about the meeting–

http://www.csus.edu/org/wpsa/mtgs.stm

And as for my WPSA paper–well, hopefully, the Kleroterians will be hearing about it shortly. (I hope to have a draft ready to circulate later this week.)

Filed under: Distribution by lot, Theory | 5 Comments »

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