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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, January 31, 2023 
The Punters’ Guide to Democracy was presented to the President, Michael D Higgins, on Wed 8th Feb in Áras an Uachtaráin. See also 2022-8 and '22-1, and
https://politicalreform.ie/2023/02/20/presentation-of-the-punters-guide-to-democracy-at-aras-an-uachtarain/
Monday, September 26, 2022 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Newsletter of the Global Think Tank Network for Democracy Studies
Saturday, September 24, 2022 https://politicalreform.ie/2022/09/18/ukraine-are-we-also-at-fault/ is a PSAI blog. And this was in the Irish News, 12 Sept: Mikhail Gorbachev, "a man we...
Wednesday, September 7, 2022 https://player.vimeo.com/video/745951914?h=a3d8147234&badge=0&autopause=0&player_id=0&app_id=58479 See also 2023-2, 2022-13, '22-8 and '22-1.
Monday, August 15, 2022 London launch, 6th Oct: Unlock Democracy: https://youtu.be/Q0rhJ3_50iI
Dublin launch, 12th, Mansion House
Waterford, 14th, PSAI conference
Belfast launch, 26th, Linen Hall Library
Paris, 3rd Nov, American University
Strasbourg, 8th, World Forum for Democracy, Council of Europe
Prague launch, 15th, IH21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52qBbzOcerw
See also 2023-2, 2022-8 and 2022-1.
Monday, August 15, 2022 This book discusses multiple ways of voting in a democratic system and explains the basis of more consensual politics. Without delving into too much technical argument or too many mathematical examples, it aims to show that binary decision-making is blunt, primitive, divisive, and sometimes inaccurate
Thursday, July 28, 2022 Sunday, 24th July. I said: Mariupol. The name...
Thursday, June 9, 2022 PRESS RELEASE on 9.6.2022: REFERENDUMS… OR ‘FALSE FLAGS’? “The people will determine
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 The Punters' Guide to Democracy, (Springer, Heidelberg), is due to be published later this summer.
1 “…the West's relentless pursuit of binary voting… has been a cause of countless tragedies. This book is brilliant: political controversies should rarely if ever be 'resolved' by majority vote.” Arend Lijphart, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, USA.
2 “[for] those who do not believe in a black-or-white world… a very important and extremely timely contribution…” Věra Stojarová, Associate Professor of Political Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
3 “Peter’s challenge to the binary “win-lose” approach is urgently necessary, as is his proposal for an eminently more reasonable, accountable, and participatory system.” Dr. Valery Perry, Democratization Policy Council, Sarajevo, Bosnia.
4 “…the preferential points vote… would be the more accurate way to make decisions, and the consequences far more peaceful.” Lord Boyce, House of Lords, Westminster, Britain.
5 “He builds a case for a specific version of preferential procedure, not only for elections, but for decision making as well.” Hannu Nurmi, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Turku, Finland.
6 “A particularly strong plea in favour of voting procedures… which go far beyond the usual 'yes or no' ballots. [He uses] an alert prose and a wealth of illuminating and easily graspable examples.” Maurice Salles, Emeritus Professor, Université de Caen, France. (See 2022-1.)
