Section 01 · 4 entries
Formulas
Turning votes into seats.
A formula is the rule that converts marks on paper into seats in a chamber. The four entries here set out the families in use — plurality, elimination, quota-and-remainder, and successive division — and what each demonstrably rewards. The same ballots run through different formulas produce different winners, with nobody cheating.
Every entry in Formulas
Each one is a single rule and what it demonstrably does, with the country and the period named.
- 1.1First past the postA plurality in each district, and the well-documented consequences: manufactured majorities, a squeeze toward two parties, and large numbers of votes electing nobody.
- 1.2Alternative voteRanking and elimination in a single-member seat, which changes what a rational campaign looks like without changing the number of seats.
- 1.3Largest remainderQuota then remainders, and why the choice of quota moves seats between large and small parties.
- 1.4Highest averagesSuccessive division rather than a quota, and the systematic tilt each divisor sequence introduces.
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