Overview of recent research on RCV in Maine. Not much here to support the claims of the pro-RCV advocates. electionlab.mit.edu/articles/eff...
The Effect of Ranked-Choice Voting in Maine | MIT Election Lab
electionlab.mit.edu
Matthew Shugart
@laderafrutal.bsky.social
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science, UC Davis. Researching electoral systems, parties, legislatures. 🍑🍊🌻 Orchardist. 🇺🇸 🇮🇱🇺🇦🇹🇼🇰🇷 Zionist and small-d democrat. Blog/links to pubs: fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
I think this paper in part reproduces a measure of "intra-party unequal representation" found in "A unified approach to measuring unequal representation" doi.org/10.1007/s111... which very unfortunately is not cited
A unified approach to measuring unequal representation - Public Choice
The concept of unequal representation is commonly understood through the lenses of disproportionality and malapportionment, pertaining to inter-party and inter-district aspects, respectively. Popular indices used to measure such features are analyzed separately despite being mathematically identical. District-level wasted votes are not measured in terms of unequal representation, even though they can be conceptualized as intra-district unequal representation. A new component, intra-party unequal representation, which measures unequal representation across districts for voters who support each party, has not been considered to contribute to unequal representation. We propose a unified approach for measuring these components—disproportionality, malapportionment, wasted votes, and intra-party unequal representation—by using $${\alpha }$$ α -divergence. We show mathematically that the total of disproportionality and intra-party unequal representation equals that of malapportionment and wasted votes. We apply this approach to the Japanese political system and demonstrate the role of intra-party unequal representation in sustaining disproportionality in favor of the Liberal Democratic Party.
doi.org
British Journal of Political Science@bjpols.bsky.social · 2w agoNEW - Disproportionality in Geographic Representation - https://cup.org/4fLxlL5 - Orit Kedar, Yair Amitai & Gilad Hurvitz #OpenAccess
#AgClimAdapt How farmers in Germany are adapting to climate change. www.dw.com/en/germany-h...
Germany: How weather extremes impact local agriculture
Heat, drought, heavy rain and late frosts are taking a toll on German farmers. They increasingly respond with adapted varieties, new crops, modern breeding techniques and modified farming methods.
dw.com
Overnight, a masked bandit broke into our kitchen. Armed with opposable thumbs, he proceeded to sample everything on offer. I’d just visited the farmers market, so the menu was extensive. I can now share a highly specific peer-reviewed list of what this particular raider did & did not enjoy. 🧵
Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'
Alt: Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'
static.klipy.com
Italy is changing its electoral system (again): the fifth reform since 1993. I wrote for @laderafrutal.bsky.social's Fruits & Votes blog on how the new bonus-adjusted system works, why the government wants it, and its political implications. fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/i...
Italy is changing its electoral system (again)
Nicknamed the “Stabilicum” by the right-wing coalition government that introduced it, this would be the fifth major electoral reform in Italy since 1993.
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
There are good proposals for electoral system reform involving MMP and then there is Fiji’s proposal. fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/07/27/o...
OLPR vs. MMP in Fiji
When political scientists or election reform activists (at least in Anglo countries) think about electoral systems that they argue have good normative outcomes, the debate often comes down to eithe…
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
Tortie. You can see that she has three paws with the typical tortoiseshell coloration and then seems to wear a black stocking on the other. That’s something I never noticed in the six years during which I was feeding her outside. She’s also in her very typical splayed front legs posture.
What is a vote of no confidence, really? A deductive approach and global perspective www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) What is a vote of no confidence, really? A deductive approach and global perspective
PDF | This research note explores the conditions under which political procedures for removing the prime minister and cabinet (1) cease to qualify as... | Find, read and cite all the research you need...
researchgate.net
It’s Tisha B’Av. I wrote the linked post two years ago but the themes persist. We get the absurd scenes of the police of the Jewish state arresting Jews for praying on the site of the Jewish temples, the destruction of which Jews mourn today. fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2025/08/03/t...
Tisha b’Av 5784 and the Temple Mount
In the question of whether Jews can visit the Temple Mount, we have a controversy that is significant within the orthodox Jewish world and within Israeli politics, let alone the controversy with re…
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
Good explainer, with comparative examples, of how the Knesset election recess is not the same as dissolution in the Westminster sense. en.idi.org.il/articles/651...
The Knesset’s Work During the Election Recess
Everything you need to know about what happens to the Knesset between the end of its summer session and the 2026 elections, scheduled for October 27, 2026.
en.idi.org.il
How far can we stretch this concept of “primary,” anyway? “Voting in the primary is limited to those in the party’s central committee rather than its full member rolls, and will not include a race for party leader” www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
Religious Zionism announces candidates for party’s primary
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timesofisrael.com
Good morning from Plainfield where TS Elida has sent us some nice clouds.
An important read, even if I suspect the main claim (globalization reduces the chances of parties fulfilling promises) is an artefact of increases in the effective number of parties
Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR@cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 4w agoPromises Made, Promises Kept? by Christina J. Schneider and Robert Thomson. Reveals why campaign promises are broken in a globalized world, how parties adapt, and what this means for democracy’s future. 📚 https://cup.org/4gHuMvL
🗳️ Electoral Reform Alert 🗳️ Yesterday, the Italian Lower House approved a new electoral reform, now headed to the Senate. This would be the fifth major reform of the electoral system in Italy since 1993, and it could bring an even more radical right-wing party into the next government coalition. (1)
So why does everyone think that 2024 was THE tactical voting election? it wasn't. 2019 was the high point of tactical voting. Using the @britishelectionstudy.com panel data to plot this over the most recent four elections.
I’m old enough to remember with amazement how fast Congress reversed its foolish decision!
Scott Meinke@srmeinke.bsky.social · 4w agoI don't have a very strong opinion about year-round DST, but the time that Congress tried this in the 1970s is pretty interesting . . . 🧵
I added a paragraph to my recent post on the new Palestinian electoral system to make this point: “This could be an over-correction from the former extremely majoritarian system to a new extremely permissive one.” fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/07/12/p...
Palestinian legislative elections set (supposedly), and under a highly proportional system
One wonders whether the designers of this new system realized they were making it quite this permissive. This could be an over-correction from the former extremely majoritarian system to a new extr…
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
Supposedly there will be Palestinian elections soon. If so (plenty of basis for doubts) they will be under a significantly reformed electoral system. fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/07/12/p...
Palestinian legislative elections set (supposedly), and under a highly proportional system
According to the Palestinian WAFA news agency, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has issued a decree setting the election date to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) a…
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
List-making time and disagreement within Likud: “Ynet reported that many ministers quietly support the idea of such a committee [to nominate the list rather than a primary], but Likud backbenchers strongly oppose it, fearing they will lose their seats.” www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
Ahead of Netanyahu meeting, Likud’s Haim Katz denies pushing for internal panel to pick slate
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timesofisrael.com
A speculative theory: politics is making people increasingly miserable because typical political participation is now more *national*, more *electoral*, and more *passive* than it used to be, all of which have worse happiness returns-on-investment. blog.mattglassman.net/speculative-...
Speculative theory of political participation and happiness
A speculative theory: Current politics is making people increasingly miserable because at a participatory level it has become for many people, on the margin...
blog.mattglassman.net
Based on the excellent chapter by @jmfernandes86.bsky.social / Shomer / @laderafrutal.bsky.social, many visible traces can be found for personalization: ▪️MPs' attributes (e.g., gender, age) ▪️MPs' behavior (strategic parliamentary and extra-parliamentary tools) www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/b...
NEW PUBLICATION!🚨 The 2023 Swiss federal elections were the first ever held under mandatory campaign finance disclosure rules. So how does an open-list PR influence campaign spending? Greater voters' ability to cast preference votes = more money spent onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Terrific interview with Mackenzie Dobson about really interesting research on legislators.
Matt Grossmann@mattgrossmann.bsky.social · 2mo agoCan we make legislators more effective? We know the strategies that work move legislation. But training programs may not help. New #ScienceOfPolitics podcast/transcript with Mackenzie Dobson www.niskanencenter.org/can-we-make-...
This is an excellent paper that I recommend highly.
Steffen Ganghof@ganghof.bsky.social · 2mo agoDemocratization paper explaining why - Switzerland is a 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 democracy - proposals for a "parliamentary" USA 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 parliamentary - standard definitions of the 𝗻𝗼-𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 are wrong - a personalist autocracy 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 presidential elections ... www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Wales used a closed-list PR electoral system for the first time. The election occurred during a time of flux in the party system. And despite all that, the outcome fits the Seat Product Model expectations precisely. fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/05/29/w...
Wales nails the seat product expectation
The election of the Welsh Senedd on 7 May 2026 was the first held under the new electoral system of closed-list PR. With sixteen districts in a 96-seat assembly, and thus a district magnitude of si…
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
Tortie is enjoying her new catio for the first time. Tortie is the longtime outdoor cat we took in just over a year ago. She likes her new indoor life but sometimes shows signs of missing her old outdoors. We are hoping this will give her a bit of the best of both worlds.
It’s good to have this info but we didn’t really need an RCV scenario to know it’s, as of now, a close call between the two Californians. Does RCV in Pres primaries make sense? My take: fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2025/12/30/r...
‘RCV’ in US presidential primaries?
How would it be an advance if each state awarded all of its delegates to one candidate in a process that starts off with “too many” candidates?
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
FairVote@fairvote.bsky.social · 3mo agoThis week, FairVote published a new ranked choice voting poll of potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates. See the full results here ⬇️
My take on the performance of the Scottish MMP system in the recent election in light of the extended seat product model, and the question of whether the Greens were a de facto “decoy list.” fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com/2026/05/21/s...
Scotland 2026: A normal election for its MMP design
The electoral system used for the Scottish Parliament is more restrictive than the Westminster parliamentary electoral system, and recognizing this characteristic is key to understanding the result…
fruitsandvotes.wordpress.com
It's obviously not up there with presidentialism as grave mistakes go, but giving Aaron Nola a 7-year, $172 million contract was also a grave mistake.
NBC Sports Philadelphia@nbcsportsphiladelphia.com · 3mo agoThe Phillies dropped their first series under Don Mattingly with a 9-4 home loss to the Reds. More from Jim Salisbury: