Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It)

William Poundstone

Macmillan, Feb 17, 2009 - Mathematics - 338 pages

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 an unfair outcome need never happen again, and as William Poundstone shows in Gaming the Vote, the solution is lurking right under our noses.

In all five cases, the vote was upset by a "spoiler"—a minor candidate who took enough votes away from the most popular candidate to tip the election to someone else. The spoiler effect is more than a glitch. It is a consequence of one of the most surprising intellectual discoveries of the twentieth century: the "impossibility theorem" of the Nobel laureate economist Kenneth Arrow. His theorem asserts that voting is fundamentally unfair—a finding that has not been lost on today's political consultants. Armed with polls, focus groups, and smear campaigns, political strategists are exploiting the mathematical faults of the simple majority vote. The answer to the spoiler problem lies in a system called range voting, which would satisfy both right and left, and Gaming the Vote assesses the obstacles confronting any attempt to change the U.S. electoral system.

The latest of several books by Poundstone on the theme of how important scientific ideas have affected the real world, Gaming the Vote is both a wry exposé of how the political system really works and a call to action.

Contents

• The Wizard and the Lizard: 3
• THE PROBLEM: 23
• Game Theory: 25
• The Big Bang: 45
• A Short History of Vote Splitting: 59
• The Most Evil Man in America: 92
• Run Ralph Run: 107
• Year of the Spoiler: 120
• THE SOLUTION: 131
• Trouble in Kiribati: 133
• The New Belfry: 149
• Instant Runoff: 162
• Whos Afraid of the Big Bad Cycle?: 172
• Buckley and the Clones: 186
• Bad Santa: 201
• Last Man Standing: 219
• Hot or Not?: 231
• Present but Not Voting: 250
• THE REALITY: 259
• The Way Democracy Will Be: 261
• Blue Man Coup: 279
• Glossary: 285
• Addresses: 291
• Notes: 293
• Sources: 313
• Acknowledgments: 325
• Index: 327

About the author

William Poundstone has been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize. Among his seven books are "The Recursive Universe," "Labyrinths of Reason," and "Big Secrets." He has also written extensively for network television and major magazines. He lives in Los Angeles.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair (and What We Can Do About It)
• Author: William Poundstone
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Macmillan, 2009
• ISBN: 0809048922, 9780809048922
• Length: 338 pages
• Subjects: Mathematics / Game Theory; Political Science / American Government / Executive Branch; Political Science / American Government / General; Political Science / American Government / Legislative Branch; Political Science / Political Process / Campaigns & Elections; Political Science / Political Process / General