Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

• Romans 13:1-7

“Nicolas, Marquis de Condorcet, was an early exponent of the French tradition of approaching moral and political issues from a mathematical perspective. His famous formula, known as Condorcet’s Paradox, drew attention to a paradox in the voting system by showing that majority preferences become intransitive when there are more than three candidates. A liberal thinker, he advocated equal rights and free education for all, including women. He played a key role in the French Revolution, but was branded a traitor for opposing the execution of Louis XVI, and died in prison.”

• Sam Atkinson (senior editor), The Philosophy Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained

Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet, a.k.a. Nicolas de Condorcet (1743-1794) was a French philosopher, political economist, and mathematician.  Besides his efforts to include equality of women, he denounced slavery, albeit in an anonymous pamphlet.  He was on the committee to write the French Constitution, but when the Montagnards (a rival political group named for the Mountains) gained control, they wrote their own.  Condorcet objected and was considered a traitor.

The Condorcet Paradox has a variety of tentacles, but the idea crossed his mind that political elections with more than two candidates rarely resulted in one clear winner of the majority of the population.  His argument was that in each one-on-one competition of candidates A, B, and C, you could often have a comparison of A being favored over B, B being favored over C, and C being favored over A – that is if all races were only one-on-one.  Thus, if multiple opponents are in the race, the result must be narrowed down to two candidates unless one candidate has a wide margin of voting against all the candidates in all demographics.  This is the Condorcet Method.  Many elections today require a run-off between the highest vote-getters if there is not a clear majority over all opposition combined.  The concept of being intransitive leaves various factions not having any direct effect on the duties of the winning candidate.

Examples of this happen in the USA election quite often.  People will vote for the presidential candidate of one party and then the opposing party’s candidate for the legislative branch.  The two branches then disagree and very little gets signed into law.  How could this happen?  If the election was over policies of the party, it should not happen, but when one candidate is more likeable than another, a purely subjective idea, then you can make the government work in a stalemate until the losing party produces a more “likeable” candidate. Of course, voter apathy, or rather who shows up to vote, can have a greater effect on the election. If this phenomenon is based on the more likeable candidate, for whatever criteria, then it may balance out the equation, but often those that did not vote complain the loudest.

Without differentiating a one-on-one competition, the majority never gets what they want or the majority is neutralized by poor support from the populace, according to Condorcet’s paradox.

Thus, Condorcet has had a lasting influence on elections, but his contribution was not appreciated by the others who supported the French Revolution.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.