This is why I really like the run-off system of the non-instant variety. It gives people a clear choice and a chance to think. People that might not have voted the first round see a stark choice and may think “yeah I better go vote or we’ll have another Bolsanaro running things and I don’t want that.”
The two-round system is actually very similar in its dynamics to instant runoff voting or FPTP with primaries. All these systems feature a centre squeeze. FPTP without primaries is actually a better system, albeit obviously still vastly inferior to a proportional system, which is what all top-tier democracies (and economies for that matter) use. In the FPTP-without-primary era, the US still had statesmen with broad support as presidents (e.g., FDR, Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt), and the election of a Trump would have been unfathomable (at least, on the Republican ticket).
Energize people that may have avoided the initial round of voting but are not faced with a binary decision where they may have a very strong preference rather than a large field of candidates.
I was also on instant running voting as being a superior system but this thread is making some interesting arguments about the role time can play in an election.
This is why I really like the run-off system of the non-instant variety. It gives people a clear choice and a chance to think. People that might not have voted the first round see a stark choice and may think “yeah I better go vote or we’ll have another Bolsanaro running things and I don’t want that.”
Congrats to Brazil!
The two-round system is actually very similar in its dynamics to instant runoff voting or FPTP with primaries. All these systems feature a centre squeeze. FPTP without primaries is actually a better system, albeit obviously still vastly inferior to a proportional system, which is what all top-tier democracies (and economies for that matter) use. In the FPTP-without-primary era, the US still had statesmen with broad support as presidents (e.g., FDR, Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt), and the election of a Trump would have been unfathomable (at least, on the Republican ticket).
Agreed, I like it.
But why multiple election days when you can have a preferential voting system that has runoff inbuilt?
Thank goodness for this outcome though.
Because it provides for the opportunity to strategically vote based on the results of the previous round.
But it’s still down to two and you have one preference. What’s the strategy?
Energize people that may have avoided the initial round of voting but are not faced with a binary decision where they may have a very strong preference rather than a large field of candidates.
I was also on instant running voting as being a superior system but this thread is making some interesting arguments about the role time can play in an election.