Majority Voting as a Catalyst of Populism

£49.99

Majority Voting as a Catalyst of Populism

Preferential Decision-making for an Inclusive Democracy

Peace studies and conflict resolution Political science and theory Elections and referenda / suffrage Central / national / federal government Welfare economics

Author: Peter Emerson

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Language: English

Published by: Springer

Published on: 25th September 2019

Format: LCP-protected ePub

Size: 4 Mb

ISBN: 9783030202194


Critique of Binary Majority Rule

This timely book presents a critique of binary majority rule and provides insights into why, in many instances, the outcome of a two-option ballot does not accurately reflect the will of the people. Based on the author's first-hand experience, majority-voting is argued to be a catalyst of populism and its divisive outcomes have prompted countless disputes throughout Europe and Asia. In like manner, simple majority rule is seen as a cause of conflict in war zones, and of dysfunction in so-called stable democracies.

Proposed Solutions and Case Studies

In order to safeguard democracy, an all-party power-sharing approach is proposed, which would make populism less attractive to voters and governments alike. In geographically arranged chapters, well-tested alternative voting procedures (e. g. non-majoritarian Modified Borda Count) are presented in case studies of Northern Ireland, Central Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Russia, China, North Korea and Mongolia.

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