An Examination of Ranked-Choice Voting in the United States, 2004–2022
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6379207 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam Graham-Squire (0000-0003-2302-4411, High Point University), David Mccune (0000-0001-7680-5399, William Jewell College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-19 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Representation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-4893 • E-ISSN: 1749-4001 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00344893.2023.2221689 |
| OpenAlex | W4380367204 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 16 |
From the perspective of social choice theory, ranked-choice voting (RCV) is known to have many flaws. RCV can fail to elect a Condorcet winner and is susceptible to monotonicity paradoxes and the spoiler effect, for example. We use a database of 185 American ranked-choice elections for political office from the years 2004 to 2022 to investigate empirically how frequently RCV's deficiencies manifest in practice. Our general finding is that RCV's weaknesses are rarely observed in real-world elections, with the exception that ballot exhaustion frequently causes majoritarian failures
Ballot · Condorcet method · Economics · General election · Microeconomics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social choice theory · Voting · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Game Theory and Voting Systems · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology
Ranked choice voting with different elimination procedures
An evaluation of Borda count variations using ranked choice voting data
Monotonicity anomalies in Scottish local government elections
The negative participation paradox in three-candidate instant runoff elections
A majority rule philosophy for instant runoff voting
New fairness criteria for truncated ballots in multi-winner ranked-choice elections
Ranked-choice voting and the spoiler effect
Demographic Disparities Using Ranked-Choice Voting? Ranking Difficulty, Under-Voting, and the 2020 Democratic Primary
Frequency of monotonicity failure under Instant Runoff Voting
Closeness matters
The prevalence and consequences of ballot truncation in ranked-choice elections
Demographic differences in understanding and utilization of ranked choice voting
Does the Choice of Preferential Voting Method Matter? An Empirical Study Using Ranked Choice Elections in the United States
Lack of Monotonicity Anomalies in Empirical Data of Instant-runoff Elections
Ballot (and voter) "exhaustion" under Instant Runoff Voting
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |