PEP 308: Alternative conditional operator forms

[Erik Max Francis]

Laura Creighton wrote:

> It has got to reflect reality better than simply assuming that those
> who do not care do not matter, or that those who wish to participate
> in the political process must be forced to take sides, or that
> abstainers fall neatly into 50% pro/ 50% anti proportions.  It also
> means that the entire political process is not subordinate to the job
> of 'picking winners and losers' ... it actually represents an attempt,
> however flawed, to 'find out what people want'.  You alienate members
> of your society when you hold a vote and give them no way to express
> their views.  I think that this is evil, and moreover, it makes it
> really hard to get them to show up again should you ever decide
> to have _another_ referendum.

I have no objection to including "don't cares" in the voting process,
provided it's included in a way such that everyone is satisfied with the
process.

I was simply pointing out that there are _always_ an implied _huge_
contingent of "don't cares" in any vote, and so if you include a special
"abstain" vote, the question boils down to what that should mean in the
final figures.  The real number of people who don't care will certainly
be much greater than the number of "abstain" votes that get sent;
admittedly, in many cases, it might even be much greater than the total
number of yes and no votes (as would certainly be the case with Usenet
CFVs).

The "don't care" camp is _going_ to get underrepresented in any vote, so
the question is what value or relevance should abstentions should have
in the process.

-- 
 Erik Max Francis / max at alcyone.com / http://www.alcyone.com/max/
 __ San Jose, CA, USA / 37 20 N 121 53 W / &tSftDotIotE
/  \ Nothing is so good it lasts eternally
\__/ Florence, _Chess_
    Erik Max Francis' bookmarks / http://www.alcyone.com/max/links/
 A highly categorized list of Web links.