Re: A database of electoral results?

bbadour_at_golden.net says...

> "Paul" <paul_at_not.a.chance.ie> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1a159c1c839aff979897d9_at_news1.eircom.net...
> >
> > rhann_at_globalnet.co.uk says...
> >
> > > > I'm disappointed that nobody has any input on this - I would have
> > > > thought that it would be interesting from a database practitioner's
> > > > point of view to expand on this topic - Oh well, I'm just going to
> have
> > > > to invent my own models!
> >
> >
> > > You would have to do much of that work anyway,
> >
> >
> > Sure, of course - I wasn't suggesting that I wouldn't have to do any
> > work myself.
> >
> >
> > > because how else could you
> > > judge that you were selecting the correct model from among those being
> > > offered?
> >
> >
> > As I say, I wasn't expecting a knight with a shining Oracle box to drop
> > an answer into my sweaty little paw.
> >
> > What has disappointed me is that I got no feedback whatsoever on the
> > topic - somebody somewhere must have done work on this topic, and I
> > thought that I could look at what was done before and build on it (à la
> > Newton - shoulders of giants &c.).
> >
> >
> > I would have thought that it was a suitable and interesting topic for
> > this ng.
> >
> >
> > Obviously the convoluted (but extremely democratic - i.e. what the
> > people vote for, the people get, unlike in some countries that I could
> > name - ahem... Mr Bush are you listening?) form of Irish elections will
> > require significant work (in the NoI for example, one can have fractions
> > of a vote - i.e. no integers), a typical ballot has about 10 - 12 counts
> > as votes are transferred from candidate to candidate and candidates are
> > eliminated.
>
> With all due respect, the convoluted process you described for Irish
> elections is not entirely unlike the process that gave Hitler absolute power
> in Germany on the basis of a small minority of votes.
>
> The purpose of an election in a representative democracy is to choose an
> undisputed government accountable to the electors. Ambiguity does not work.
> (Think Cromwell or two Popes.)
>
> The US presidential election process intentionally uses a formula not based
> on proportion of votes. The United States of America comprises 50 sovereign
> countries that have relinquished some measure of sovereignty in exchange for
> mutual defense and unfettered trade. The presidential election process
> explicitly protects the sovereign rights of the sparsely populated countries
> by increasing the weight of their vote slightly above the proportion of
> their population. Otherwise, four states would determine all policy in
> America usurping the voice of the remaining 46 states.
>
> Given that the last election was a draw by all measures (the difference in
> votes nationally was well within the margin of error), the fact that the
> process led to an undisputed President without bloodshed demonstrates the
> clear superiority of the US election process compared to the rest of the
> world. The fact that the elected President did not receive a surplus of
> votes demonstrates that the formula works to protect the sovereignty of the
> lesser states.
>
> I live in Canada under a system of governance based on the British
> Parliamentary system. This system has handed absolute power to left wing
> socialists for the last decade on the basis of a minority of the votes, and
> specifically to the hands of a despicable opportunist--a truly evil man. God
> only knows what evil he is going to do in Africa, but I can only say good
> riddance at last! That cesspool of violence and tribalism is an appropriate
> place for him.
>
> Your naive, simplistic and knee-jerk condemnation of the US Presidential
> election bespeaks a level of ignorance and intellectual sloth entirely in
> keeping with your request for someone else to do your job for you. While I
> know nothing of your political beliefs, I observe that such a knee-jerk
> condemnation is typical of marxists who are either too stupid or too
> stubborn to admit to themselves that their social engineering policies are
> not only counter-productive but evil.
>

For those who are interested - I forgot to give the URL in my last post.

I didn't ask you to do my "job".

It is not work related - it is a project that I am undertaking as an amateur psephologist in order to improve my chances of winning a competition being hosted here:

http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/prediction.htm

The maximum prize money that one person can win is $40 US) so that you can imagine it's not really a financial incentive that is pushing me. I am offering a prize of €20 myself for results in one particular area.

Paul...

-- 

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