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The Potential of Cumulative Voting To Yield Fair Representation

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  • Duane A. Cooper

    (Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, dcooper@morehouse.edu)

Abstract

We prove that cumulative voting usually enables a minority population to achieve political representation corresponding to apportionment by Webster's method, which minimizes the absolute difference of per capita representation between the minority and the remaining majority population. The minority, of arbitrary size, can generally attain its `Webster-fair' share of n seats with probability greater than 75 per cent and otherwise, with probability at most 4 n/n+1 1 the minority can attain just one seat less than its Webster-fair representation. Furthermore, for two subpopulations, the potential representation yielded by cumulative voting is identical to that obtained from apportionment by Jefferson's method, and for more than two subpopulations the potential representation by cumulative voting cannot be greater than that of Jefferson apportionment. These results confirm the potential of cumulative voting to yield representation proportional or nearly proportional to population, and the results counter claims or concerns that cumulative voting would be unfairly advantageous to minority populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Duane A. Cooper, 2007. "The Potential of Cumulative Voting To Yield Fair Representation," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 19(3), pages 277-295, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:19:y:2007:i:3:p:277-295
    DOI: 10.1177/0951629807077570
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Monroe, Burt L., 1995. "Fully Proportional Representation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(4), pages 925-940, December.
    2. Chwe, Michael Suk-Young, 1999. "Minority Voting Rights Can Maximize Majority Welfare," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 93(1), pages 85-97, March.
    3. Gerber, Elisabeth R. & Morton, Rebecca B. & Rietz, Thomas A., 1998. "Minority Representation in Multimember Districts," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 92(1), pages 127-144, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Karpov, Alexander, 2015. "Alliance incentives under the D’Hondt method," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-7.

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