How to save the world: Instant Runoff Voting

They say the surest way to ruin a dinner party is to talk about one of the taboo subjects of religion or politics. My wife has added computers to that list. As I have a whole category dedicated to that subject I was bound to hit on religion or politics at some point. Here it is: today is the day that I spoil the dinner party with politics (religion will just have to wait its turn).

As some of you may have guessed, I was unhappy at the results of the last national election. It wasn’t just that I was opposed to Bush. He won the election, and I’ll abide by that. I was mainly miffed that Democrats and Republicans alike ran the candidates that they did. Bush made it to and subsequently won the world series because he could “unite the base.” Kerry got to play because he had good hair, looked presidential, and didn’t scream on stage. No wonder people felt like it was a losing battle.

The politics in this country have become hugely polarized (and for good reason!). The stakes are high and the country is roughly split between left-leaning and right-leaning folk. There is no longer room for dissent in the ranks because any cracks in the Republican or Democratic monoliths could cause catastrophic losses.

I believe the current course of politics in this country almost guarantees a majority loser! The Democrats talk of being a “big tent” and the Republicans play up being the “party of inclusion.” Unfortunately, the bigger your tent or the more people you include, the greater your chances that some people will want to take their toys and go home. In recent memory there have been painful instances where both major parties have suffered total losses as the result of becoming diverse.

One could argue that, in 1992, Perot elected Clinton. Again in 2000 one could argue that, had Gore received a majority of Nader votes, the last 5 years would have been very different. The Democratic response in 2004 was the wrong response, they vilified Nader—in some states attempting to block him from the ballot. What could be more undemocratic than that?

Candidates, for fear of splitting their base, have to be uncontroversial, politically bland, but personally charismatic. Ideas, while a nice… idea, are not high on the list of qualifications. Otherwise maybe we’d have seen a match-up between McCain and Kucinich in the last election. As it is, we’re in a death spiral of popularity contests.

You’re thinking, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” You’re in luck. It just so happens that I’ve got a bit of the backseat driver in me tonight. Montanans, of all people, have the power to save the world.

Instant Runoff Voting.

It’s no secret that Montanans love ballot initiatives. We’re politically active here. We’ve got one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the country here in the Treasure State. It’s relatively easy (though not as easy as it used to be) to get some signatures together and get something on the ballot. We generally pass voter initiatives too. From the last election, here’s what I’ve learned about Montana via our voter initiatives:

- We like the environment (no to cyanide leech mining!)
- We are homophobic (how do you reconcile this with the others that passed?)
- We like marijuana

Or maybe we just like voter initiatives. Whether or not you agree with the initiatives, you can’t help but feel a little pride that Montanans are so interested in self-government.

Montana is an ideal candidate for trying Instant Runoff Voting.

- Montana is politically active.
- Montana is historically neither staunchly Democrat nor Republican
- Third party candidates (both liberal and conservative) have traditionally done better here than they have in other places.
- Montanans would pass a ballot initiative for Instant Runoff Voting.

I believe that the quality of political candidates would improve very quickly. With spoilers no longer an issue, more dissent would occur. More dissent would mean an expanded marketplace of ideas. In a larger marketplace, the products are the stars. The current “brand loyalty” system would enjoy competition. Nobody wants to see the same teams play in the world series year after year.

The rest of the country would be able to see the full political spectrum of Montana. More Montanans than ever would be represented accurately. Then maybe the rest of the country would become jealous and want to join the fun.

Today, my friend Ben said he’d be interested in helping try to get a ballot initiative passed. Both of us are incredibly busy, however. If any Montana readers out there would be willing to give a hand, let me know. I think we’ve got a real shot at getting this passed in 2006.

For a full description of Instant Runoff Voting check out instantrunoff.com. Be sure to check out the cool multimedia flash demonstration.

Remember, with Instant Runoff Voting, everybody wins. Democrats and Republicans no longer have to fear spoilers, and the little guys get to be heard too.