At least five U.S. presidential elections have been won by the second most popular candidate, but these results were not inevitable. In fact, such...
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May 22, 2008
Darin
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Most books that attempt to propose new ways of carrying out elections are nothing more than sour grapes: "Since *my* guy didn't win the last election, the system is obviously flawed and should be overhauled." Therefore, most of these sort of books are a waste of time. This one, however, is simply brilliant. Instead of approaching the subject through party results, Poundstone instead takes a historical walk through many different voting schemes in terms of the mathematical theory be
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Jan 23, 2011
Curtiss
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Poundstone discusses various voting methods to contrast with the current plurality vote method of electing most public officials in the United States; a voting method which is often subject to the phenomenon of "vote splitting" by spoiler candidates, which has five times in US history led to the election of a president who failed to receive a majority of the popular vote.
He covers the dilemma of Kenneth Arrow's "Impossibilty Theorem" which states that no ranked-c More...
He covers the dilemma of Kenneth Arrow's "Impossibilty Theorem" which states that no ranked-c More...
Oct 27, 2009
Ken
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An interesting read with only a bit of new information. Much of the book is spent discussing the history of spoilers in elections. Most people will agree this is a problem unless they are busily taking advantage of said spoiler(therefore the title).
The author goes into historical solutions that have been proposed over time: Cordocet, Borda, single transferrable, IRV, approval, and the author's apparent preference, Range voting.
The arguments against most of these range f More...
The author goes into historical solutions that have been proposed over time: Cordocet, Borda, single transferrable, IRV, approval, and the author's apparent preference, Range voting.
The arguments against most of these range f More...
Nov 20, 2011
Josh
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This is an overview of various voting systems, presented informally, primarily in the form of historical sketches, interviews with modern experts, and various "what if" scenarios concerning famous (and not-so-famous) elections of the past with "undesirable" outcomes. By the end of the book it's clear which voting system Poundstone endorses, and I must say I agree with him.
Overall I found it very interesting and had to consider carefully whether it deserved three More...
Overall I found it very interesting and had to consider carefully whether it deserved three More...
Dec 07, 2008
Anya
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I learned so much from this book! I learned that when you click on one to five stars to rate a book on a site like this one, this is called "range voting," while the type of voting we do in US Presidential elections is called "plurality voting." This book isn't about voter fraud or no-paper-trail voting machines; it's about how, even when elections are run with the best of intentions in this country, their results are deeply vulnerable to weird mathematical skewing. So the pe
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Feb 10, 2009
Bruce
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Gaming the Vote is a book for all those who are better test-takers than learners. I don't have much to add to what others have said about this book, which is fairly entertaining although eventually a bit on the redundant side. William Poundstone starts by explaining Kenneth Arrow's Nobel-prize winning mathematical proof that applying different "fair" voting schemes will yield different results, the upshot being that anyone familiar with the voting rules in effect can manipulate them
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Nov 29, 2008
Mark
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Not to... spoil anything, but the answer to the book's subtitle is Range Voting, wherein candidates are scored, scores are added up (or averaged), and the winning score wins. (This is very different from Instant Runoff Voting -- my own city's voting method -- which, despite it's spoiler-free benefits, can still produce some odd results if three or more strong candidates are competing.)
In getting to the benefits of range voting, the author takes us on a geeky math-historical journey a More...
In getting to the benefits of range voting, the author takes us on a geeky math-historical journey a More...
Jul 02, 2009
Xenophon
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William Poundstone, the author, describes the contradictions inherent in several different voting schemes. The book serves as a lucid introduction to Kenneth Arrow's Impossibility Theorem and the history of voting. Poundstone enlivens the text with many anecdotes.
The book also promotes range voting as a superior voting method. Like all methods of voting, range voting is subject to anomalies, but the author believes it is the best scheme yet devised.
Poundstone's writing More...
The book also promotes range voting as a superior voting method. Like all methods of voting, range voting is subject to anomalies, but the author believes it is the best scheme yet devised.
Poundstone's writing More...
Feb 11, 2008
Ok ok ok, I admit that putting this on the 'to read' shelf is a bit disingenuous, because I really don't think I'm actually going to read it. There's too much Cortázar and Pynchon and Murakami in the world. But for those of you who have the time, this book sounds really interesting. This is from the Powells.com review:
While most Americans would characterize our electoral process as "one person, one vote," the route to the White House is considerably byzantine. For example, More...
While most Americans would characterize our electoral process as "one person, one vote," the route to the White House is considerably byzantine. For example, More...
Sep 22, 2008
Tamra
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Gaming the Vote is an impressive overview of the convoluted math and psychology behind different voting systems and the benefits and drawbacks of those systems.
OK, that probably sounds boring to anybody who isn’t a math and/or political science geek, but this book does a terrific, and often humorous, job of showing the reader the impact that plurality voting has had on the US Presidency (especially vote splitters – Ralph Nader wasn’t the first third-party candidate to impact an elect More...
OK, that probably sounds boring to anybody who isn’t a math and/or political science geek, but this book does a terrific, and often humorous, job of showing the reader the impact that plurality voting has had on the US Presidency (especially vote splitters – Ralph Nader wasn’t the first third-party candidate to impact an elect More...
Dec 27, 2010
Unwisely
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I read William Poundstone's Secrets series as a kid, and really liked them. When I was looking at books on elections and I saw his name, I figured I would like the book, and indeed, I did.
Very accessible book on voting systems, how to measure voting systems, problems that can arise, and some history. Which sounds kind of boring, but was actually a fun read. And probably educational.
Very accessible book on voting systems, how to measure voting systems, problems that can arise, and some history. Which sounds kind of boring, but was actually a fun read. And probably educational.
Apr 10, 2010
Converse
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Very readable account of the study of voting systems, interlaced with examples from real elections. Louisiana's all party primary system is one of the author's examples of what unexpected results a change in the voting system can cause. Arrow's Impossibility theorem is more limited than I realized. Helpful glossary of voting systems.
Dec 16, 2010
MisterFweem
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Not quite what I expected -- maybe a bit on Chicago-style politics and such. No such stuff here. This is, instead, an accessible introduction to many of the alternative voting methods that have been proposed, explored, taken apart and shown, statistically, to not work much better than the plurality vote we've already got.
Oct 08, 2008
Sarah
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Picked this up when looking for another of Poundstone's books and I'm extremely glad I did. This is a detailed (but not dense) look at various voting systems and their inherent flaws, including the spoiler effect that makes the United State's plurality system unfair, the strategic voting that dooms the Borda count, and the complexity of instant runoff voting. If the ideal voting system is one that elects the candidate most palatable to the greatest number of voters, then we're more than overdue
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Dec 18, 2009
James
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It is an interesting view of voting. It would have been better had it been shorter. The voting system they suggest is a good idea, but hardly complex enough to need an entire book.
Mar 04, 2010
Kater
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A discussion of game theory, that is, how choice architecture influences outcome. Less politics, more statistics than you might suspect from the cover.
Sep 11, 2011
Stephen
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A fantastic book on election theory. It says everything I've been trying to say, but so much better. Read it. Read it read it read it.
Nov 15, 2008
Erin
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I enjoyed this book so much, I am buying a copy of it. The 1st half tells some fascinating stories from history about elections gone wrong, or just gone 'weird'. It explains about Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. Then it goes on to explain the history of the development of other voting methods, and describes the methods, showing the advantages and disadvantages of each. The glossary is a nice resource (as a math teacher, we actually teach a unit on this stuff if there's time). But the other s
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Jan 02, 2009
Very interesting and informative book if you want know about all the different types of voting mechanisms that have worked over time. The one knock I have on this book was that the author spent a lot of time with the history of voting and providing a lot of inciteful research versus the problem with today's voting and how it should be fixed to avoid manipulation. He only spent about 50 pages on that subject.
Aug 15, 2008
Jenni
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I skimmed most of this. I picked this up because I was intrigued by the title and premise, which is that our current election process is flawed (and not just because of the Electoral College). Poly-sci folks would be more interested in this than I was, though I found parts very informative. It made me truly think about different voting techniques and the pros and cons of each.
Jul 16, 2008
Joshua
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This was a tough book to rate. The writing really isn't all that fantastic, but the subject and examples used are terribly interesting. In the end, some scientific research brings out the utilitarian assumptions of the book, but then again, those assumptions are shared by the vast majority of Americans. Definitely worth a look.
May 07, 2008
Karen
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This book was an interesting retrospective on what voting techniques could have prevented "spoilers" from skewing the results of several famous presidential and Congressional races. I'd never particularly thought about the mathematics behind various voting options and this book was entertaining and eminently readable.
Jun 13, 2011
Rhi
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I liked the historical tidbits on which elections (mostly US presidential) have been manipulated, as well as the exposure to various voting systems. I felt like the information could have been presented in a New Yorker article though, rather than a full-length book.
Oct 26, 2008
Doug
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A good but rambling history of elections where plurality voting failed and overview of preference voting systems. It comes down hard in favor of range voting, which I admit is the most expressive, but I'm not quite convinced it's better than Condorcet.
Jul 19, 2008
Valerie
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This is a very well written explanation of the various voting methods, and their flaws, it could also serve as an into to the manipulation of the public and game theory topics. I will need to read more on this subject during the coming year.
May 20, 2008
David
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Seems like a nerdy topic to delve into in such detail, but I found it surprisingly engaging. It required a high level of concentration to keep in mind the various strengths and pitfalls associated with each voting system reviewed.
Apr 17, 2011
Lalena
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Good intro to different voting systems and their pros and cons. I think everyone who cares about having better elections should read it.
Jan 23, 2011
713Josh
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This book looked interesting, but by page ten, I was seriously bored. Maybe I will try to read it again, in a couple of years.
Apr 30, 2010
Peggy
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i really enjoyed it, but i think i need to read it more often to remember what things like "Borda Count" actually entails.
Mar 19, 2008
Amy
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Basically I learned that allowing any third/fourth/etc party into a political race is just asking for corruption. Sweet.
