The mathematical method that could offer a fairer way to vote
It allows you to give more support to your preferred outcome
ALICE WAS soaked. So was the Mouse, the Eaglet, the Dodo and all the other bedraggled creatures that emerged from the pool of tears Alice had shed at the bottom of the rabbit-hole. After the Mouse tried talking them out of their sogginess with the “driest” speech he knew, the Dodo proposed “more energetic remedies”. Alice and the animals began racing around a circle, with no start or finish line, and no obvious winner. It was, the Dodo said, a “caucus-race”.
This article appeared in the Christmas Specials section of the print edition under the headline “The public squared”
From the December 16th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Christmas Specials
On safari in South Sudan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries
The planet’s biggest conservation project is in its least developed nation
Many Trump supporters believe God has chosen him to rule
The Economist tries to find out why
Wine and climate
Global warming is changing wine (not yet for the worse)
New vineyards are popping up in surprising places; old ones are enduring
How five Ukrainian cities are coping, despite Putin’s war
From ravers to rubbish collectors, residents tells their stories
A tale of penguins and prejudice is a parable of modern America
When two male penguins hatched an egg in Central Park, they set off an enduring controversy
What the journey of a pair of shoes reveals about capitalism
And how Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, is changing