Approval Voting Is A Bad Idea

Approval voting is an election method voters say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each candidate and whoever gets the most ‘yes’ votes wins. It isn’t a popular or good idea. It’s mostly promoted by one guy, but the internet being what it is he’s managed to make the appearance that it’s a serious thing, based mostly on having gotten a real math paper published and once having convinced a very geriatric Kenneth Arrow to be interviewed who then acted like a gracious guest. I’ve now spent an unjustified amount of time arguing with this person and digging into what that paper says, so I’ll explain what’s wrong with it for your benefit.When argued with this person does a lot of talking about ‘math’ and ‘theorem’. Those familiar with Arrow’s theorem might find this a little odd. Arrow’s theorem is a theorem. How could two theorems say contradictory things? It comes down to what assumptions you make. Assumptions may or may not correlate with the real world. Which theorem applies is an empirical question…