Majority Voting as a Catalyst of Populism: Preferential Decision-making for an Inclusive Democracy

Description

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. 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. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxxix Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Decision-making in Parliaments and Referendums (Peter Emerson)....Pages 3-30 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections (Peter Emerson)....Pages 31-52 Governance: From Power-dividing to Power-sharing (Peter Emerson)....Pages 53-73 Front Matter ....Pages 75-75 Majority Voting in Belfast, Dublin and London (Peter Emerson)....Pages 77-105 Continental Europe: Are We All Little Bolsheviks? (Peter Emerson)....Pages 107-151 Asia, Where Voting Was Invented (Peter Emerson)....Pages 153-183 Majoritarian Democracy: The Catalyst of Populism (Peter Emerson)....Pages 185-189 Back Matter ....Pages 191-227