Best posts made by Kaptain5

@k98kurz My intuition also initially led me to the idea of -2 to +2 scale with 0 as default. I unfortunately do not have my sources in order, but here are the conclusions I came to after further reading:

1. A default mid position has some weird and unexpected consequences. You can get a system which rewards the most unknown candidate.
2. Approval/score/rated systems by their nature create more positive elections with less smear. This was immediately observed in districts which switched from FPTP to Approval. When a voter rates two candidates independently in a 0-5 scale, they have the ability to punish both candidates which participate in dirty politics or reward both candidates who demonstrate bi-partisan cooperation. This is especially true in large fields of say 10-60 candidates.

I am working on writing a literature review of how the behavior or parties are influenced by the electoral system. There is a lot written about how FPTP leads to 2 party dynamics, but I am having trouble finding material related to observed or expected dynamics in STAR and approval.

Links to papers on this topic or related works would be appreciated!