Burr dilemma
Encyclopedia
The Burr dilemma is a term coined by Jack H. Nagel to describe the likelihood of ties between two or more candidates in the misuse of approval voting
as a multi-member method. According to Nagel, "Problems of multicandidate races in U.S. presidential elections motivated the modern invention and advocacy of approval voting; but it has not previously been recognized that the first four presidential elections (1788–1800) were conducted using a variant of approval voting. That experiment ended disastrously in the 1800 U.S. presidential election
with the infamous Electoral College tie between Thomas Jefferson
and Aaron Burr
. The tie, ... resulted less from miscalculation than from a strategic tension built into approval voting, which forces two leaders appealing to the same voters to play a game of Chicken
."
In this election, the candidate who received the largest number of votes was elected president, and the candidate receiving the second largest number of votes was elected vice-president. As such, the election was not a true instance of approval voting, but Nagel argues that the strategic tension that voters faced is nevertheless indicative of the dilemma they would face under genuine approval voting.
Plurality voting can cause similar tension when two similar candidates risk splitting each other's votes and throwing the race to a different candidate. With plurality voting, similar voters do not even have the option of voting for both similar candidates and might not be organized enough to focus all their votes on one of the candidates.
Approval voting
Approval voting is a single-winner voting system used for elections. Each voter may vote for as many of the candidates as the voter wishes. The winner is the candidate receiving the most votes. Each voter may vote for any combination of candidates and may give each candidate at most one vote.The...
as a multi-member method. According to Nagel, "Problems of multicandidate races in U.S. presidential elections motivated the modern invention and advocacy of approval voting; but it has not previously been recognized that the first four presidential elections (1788–1800) were conducted using a variant of approval voting. That experiment ended disastrously in the 1800 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 1800
In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800," Vice-President Thomas Jefferson defeated President John Adams. The election was a realigning election that ushered in a generation of Democratic-Republican Party rule and the eventual demise of...
with the infamous Electoral College tie between Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
. The tie, ... resulted less from miscalculation than from a strategic tension built into approval voting, which forces two leaders appealing to the same voters to play a game of Chicken
Chicken (game)
The game of chicken, also known as the hawk-dove or snowdrift game, is an influential model of conflict for two players in game theory...
."
In this election, the candidate who received the largest number of votes was elected president, and the candidate receiving the second largest number of votes was elected vice-president. As such, the election was not a true instance of approval voting, but Nagel argues that the strategic tension that voters faced is nevertheless indicative of the dilemma they would face under genuine approval voting.
Plurality voting can cause similar tension when two similar candidates risk splitting each other's votes and throwing the race to a different candidate. With plurality voting, similar voters do not even have the option of voting for both similar candidates and might not be organized enough to focus all their votes on one of the candidates.