As a consequentialist I care about the outcomes (i.e. welfare impacts) of collective decision making, not how democratic the decision making process is. It seems like some other commenters are saying that voting system reform increases human utility by satisfying voter’s preferences, but I think that assumes that voters know what’s good. I don’t think they do. Am I wrong that this assumption is being made? If it is being made, could someone point me to a good argument for it?
Perhaps a more promising project is focusing on changing what gets voted on, not on the exact voting system. For example Futarchy changes what gets voted on from “what policies to implement” to “what measurable goals to pursue”.
For a more familiar example, the USA’s First Amendment (and the cultural-political edifice that supports it) prevents the political process from enacting many things even if they have majority support, and it would continue to do so regardless of the voting system.
I’m not sure what the accepted term for this type of reform would be, maybe “constitutional reform”? Are there any organizations pursuing this type of reform? If not, is it because it’s been evaluated and found lacking along EA criteria?
As a consequentialist I care about the outcomes (i.e. welfare impacts) of collective decision making, not how democratic the decision making process is. It seems like some other commenters are saying that voting system reform increases human utility by satisfying voter’s preferences, but I think that assumes that voters know what’s good. I don’t think they do. Am I wrong that this assumption is being made? If it is being made, could someone point me to a good argument for it?
Perhaps a more promising project is focusing on changing what gets voted on, not on the exact voting system. For example Futarchy changes what gets voted on from “what policies to implement” to “what measurable goals to pursue”.
For a more familiar example, the USA’s First Amendment (and the cultural-political edifice that supports it) prevents the political process from enacting many things even if they have majority support, and it would continue to do so regardless of the voting system.
I’m not sure what the accepted term for this type of reform would be, maybe “constitutional reform”? Are there any organizations pursuing this type of reform? If not, is it because it’s been evaluated and found lacking along EA criteria?
Thanks!
Relevant: “Towards a longtermist framework for evaluating democracy-related interventions”. In particular the discussion of “accuracy” and “liberalism”, but it doesn’t discuss the topic of “what gets voted on” besides liberalism.