Review of
A Preface to Democratic Theory,
by Robert A. Dahl
Five out of five stars
Predicate calculus applied to voting
This is one of
the most unusual political science books I have ever read, for there is an
occasional reference to mathematical formulas to express how votes are created
and applied. Line graphs are also used to express percentages of eligible
voters differentiated based on the strength of their preferences.
For example, on
page 39 there is the formula:
NP(x,y) > NP(y,x) ↔ x Pg y.
It is explained in the text. NP(x,y) means “the number
of citizens that prefer x to y,” and x Pg y means “x is then chosen as government
policy to y.” It is a mathematical way of saying that if the number of people
that vote for option x over y is greater than the number that vote for option y
over x, then the government accepts option x as policy.
The author
refers to the ideas of James Madison in describing the various ways that
factions, both in the majority and in the minority can somehow seize power in a
government. There is analysis of how more than one minority faction can align
themselves into the equivalent of a majority in order to take and share power. Making
it a very detailed analysis of just what democracy is.
The three
branches of the federal government are also described and compared. Of
particular interest are the cases mentioned where the United States Supreme
Court declared popular laws passed by the Congress unconstitutional more than
once. These rulings were eventually overturned by a later court, albeit decades
later. These sections of the book seem particularly relevant in the years of
the Roberts’ court.
A scientific
examination of what democracy is and how it is implemented in the United States,
one can see how the contents of this book can be applied to the presidential
elections of 2000 and 2016, where the winner lost the popular vote by millions.
The victory was in the Electoral College and not the sum of what was in the
ballot boxes.
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