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The Institute is named after Jean-Charles de Borda, and hence the well-known voting procedure, the Borda Count BC; but Jean-Charles actually invented what is now called the Modified Borda Count, MBC - the difference is subtle:
In a vote on n options, the voter may cast m preferences; and, of course, m < n.
In a BC, points are awarded to (1st, 2nd ... last) preferences cast according to the rule (n, n-1 ... 1) {or (n-1, n-2 ... 0)} whereas,
in an MBC, points are awarded to (1st, 2nd ... last) preferences cast according to the rule (m, m-1 ... 1).
The difference can be huge, especially when the topic is controversial: the BC benefits those who cast only a 1st preference; the MBC encourages the consensual, those who submit not only a 1st preference but also their 2nd (and subsequent) compromise option(s). And if (nearly) every voter states their compromise option(s), an MBC can identify the collective compromise.
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DECISION-MAKER
Inclusive voting app
https://debordavote.com
THE APP TO BEAT ALL APPS, APPSOLUTELY!
(The latest in a long-line of electronic voting for decision-making; our first was in 1991.)
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FINANCES
The Institute was estabished in 1997 with a cash grant of £3,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Charitabe Trust, and has received the occasional sum from Northern Ireland's Community Relations Council and others. Today it relies on voluntary donations and the voluntary work of its board, while most running expenses are paid by the director.
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A BLOG
"De Borda abroad." From Belfast to Beijing and beyond... and back. Starting in Vienna with the Sept 2017 TEDx talk, I give lectures in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Tehran, Beijing, Tianjin, Xuzhou, Hong Kong and Taiwan... but not in Pyongyang. Then back via Mongolia (where I had been an election observer in June 2017) and Moscow (where I'd worked in the '80s).
I have my little fold-up Brompton with me - surely the best way of exploring any new city! So I prefer to go by train, boat or bus, and then cycle wherever in each new venue; and all with just one plastic water bottle... or that was the intention!
In Sept 2019, I set off again, to promote the book of the journey. After the ninth book launch in Taipei University, I went to stay with friends in a little village in Gansu for the Chinese New Year. The rat. Then came the virus, lockdown... and I was stuck.
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The Hospital for Incurable Protestants The Mémoire of a Collapsed Catholic This is the story of a pacifist in a conflict zone, in Northern Ireland and the Balkans. Only in e-format, but only £5.15. Available from Amazon. |
The director alongside the statue of Jean-Charles de Borda, capitaine et savant, in l’École Navale in Brest, 24.9.2010. Photo by Gwenaelle Bichelot.
Here's the YouTube, the PowerPoint, and the text of the speech (more or less).
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 In the wake of the expenses scandal, many are the calls for reform of the system of governance: inter alia, there are campaigns for changes to the electoral system and reform in the House, but few if any are suggesting reform of our decision-making processes, the 2,500-year-old majority vote, the most inaccurate measure of collective opionion ever invented. Hence this open letter to the Minister
Thursday, April 30, 2009 The people elect the parliament, by PR; and the parliament elects the government, by PR. Otherwise you get those crazy consequences of majoritarianism: the US Republicans hoping that Obama will fail; the UK Labour Party producing a budget of debt deisgned for only one year.
In Ireland, too, the need for parliamentary collective responibility is obvious. Hence this letter in The Irish Times, published on Wed. 22nd April.
(See also 2012-7 and 2011-6/5.)
Thursday, April 30, 2009 Irish Political Studies has just published Prof. John Baker's interesting analysis of the MBC vote, which was used in the 2007 election by the Irish Green Party/Comhaontas Glas when they elected their Cathaoirleach/chair, and here it is.
Thursday, March 5, 2009 An article in The Guardian on 4.3.2009 explores the use of consensus voting in a number of real life scenarios.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Brno University has just published an article entitled Towards a More Inclusive Democracy, and here it is, available on http://www.cepsr.com/clanek.php?ID=334
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Participatory Budgeting (PB) first came to prominence in Porto Alegre in Brazil in 1988. Simply put, it allows local people not only to prioritise expenditures, but also to come to a collective decision on the allocation of funds. This can hardly be done by a majority vote, but it can be done by ranking the various options in order of preference, i.e. by an MBC. Rankings can be measured in other ways, of course; but in June 2008, in a paper on consensus voting presented at a PB seminar held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, this Institute argued for the MBC. In the subsequent round-up of opinions, much enthusiam was expressed: and in the words of one participamt, "I am persuaded".
Participatory budgeting is not a threat to representative democracy; rather, the former can enhance the latter. We hope other pilots will follow.
Monday, April 7, 2008 OurKingdom, the new economics foundation and the de Borda Institute recently gave interested parties from think tanks, research groups and campaigning organisations, as well as members of the general public, the opportunity to participate in an online trial of consensus decision making.
Friday, February 29, 2008 The de Borda Institute and nef (the new economics foundation) have received a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to test the potential of consensus voting More... The report of part of this experiment is published by EPS (see also 2010-1).
