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45-691: In June 2009, the Ichthus staff started a blog. New posts appear each weekday. The Ichthus' s faculty advisers are J. Mark Ramseyer and Wesley Jacobsen. Marla Frederick was a former adviser. Rev. Peter J. Gomes was adviser until his death in 2011. In an age of skepticism, many come to Harvard with misconceptions about the Christian faith and its compatibility with a rigorous intellectual life. The Ichthus aims to engage with and, ultimately, defy those misconceptions. The Ichthus publishes pieces of writing that explore God and God's creation, taking seriously

90-718: A PhD in cultural anthropology from Duke University . She was a postdoctorate fellow at the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University . Frederick was an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. She has been a visiting professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and at Northwestern University . In the early 2000s and 2010s, Frederick

135-516: A basic understanding of current issues, the liberal–conservative ideological dimension, and the relative ideological dilemma that are important to understand when making political decisions. Studies from other institutions have suggested that the physical appearance of candidates is a criterion upon which voters base their decision. Voting advice applications can increase political knowledge enabling to cast informed votes. Christadelphians , Jehovah's Witnesses , Old Order Amish , Rastafarians ,

180-493: A candidate or party listed on the ballot, or a write-in where they write out the name of their preferred candidate (if it is not listed). An alternative method that is still paper-based known as ballot letters is used in Israel, where polling booths contain a tray with ballots for each party running in the elections; the ballots are marked with the letter(s) assigned to that party. Voters are given an envelope into which they put

225-569: A different number of votes - only one (single voting as in First-past-the-post voting , Single non-transferable voting and Single transferable voting ); as many as are being elected in a multiple-member district (multiple voting as used in Plurality block voting ; more than one but fewer than are being elected in a multiple-member district ( Limited voting ). Most allow a voter to put just one vote on each candidate, but others allow

270-444: A different voter or electorate who will vote in his stead. In South Africa, there is a strong presence of anti-voting campaigns by poor citizens. They make the structural argument that no political party truly represents them. This resulted in the " No Land! No House! No Vote! " campaign, which becomes very prominent each time the country holds elections. The campaign is prominent among three of South Africa's largest social movements:

315-565: A family may decide which film to see by voting. The method of voting can range from formal submission of written votes, through show of hands , voice voting or audience response systems, to informal noting which outcome seems to be preferred by more people. Some votes are carried out in person if all the people eligible to vote are present. This could be by a show of hands or keypad polling . Deliberative assemblies —bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions —use several methods when voting on motions (formal proposals by

360-422: A member or members of a deliberative assembly). The regular methods of voting in such bodies are a voice vote, a rising vote, and a show of hands. Additional forms of voting include a recorded vote and balloting. The assembly can decide on the voting method by adopting a motion on it. The most common voting method uses paper ballots on which voters mark their preferences. This may involve marking their support for

405-578: A number between one and ten (the upper and lower bounds may vary). See cardinal voting systems . Some "multiple-winner" systems such as the Single Non-Transferable Vote, SNTV, used in Afghanistan and Vanuatu give a single vote or one vote per elector per available position. STV uses single ranked votes; block voting ( Plurality-at-large voting ) are often used for at-large positions such as on some city councils. Finally,

450-877: A president, or a group, such as a committee or a parliament. In electing a parliament, either each of many small constituencies can elect a single representative, as in Britain; or each of a lesser number of multi-member constituencies may elect two or more representatives, as in Ireland; or multi-member districts and some single-member districts can be used; or the entire country can be treated as one "at-large" district, as in The Netherlands. Different voting systems use different ballot designs. Some ballots allow only one choice to be selected (single X voting); others allow ranking or selecting multiple options ( Ranked ballots ). Different voting systems allow each voter to cast

495-445: A quota of 1st preferences; to any pair of candidates with two quotas of 1st/2nd preferences; and if seats are still to be filled, to those candidates with the highest MBC scores. In a voting system that uses multiple votes ( Plurality block voting ), the voter can vote for any subset of the running candidates. So, a voter might vote for Alice, Bob, and Charlie, rejecting Daniel and Emily. Approval voting uses such multiple votes. In

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540-421: A simple lab experiment where students in a class vote for their favorite marble. If five marbles are assigned names and are placed "up for election", and if three of them are green, one is red, and one is blue, then a green marble will rarely win the election. The reason for the green's lack of success is vote splitting. The three green marbles will split the votes of those who prefer green. In fact, in this analogy,

585-449: A very common way of reaching a decision peacefully. The right to vote is usually restricted to certain people. Members of a society or club, or shareholders of a company, but not outsiders, may elect its officers, or adopt or change its rules, in a similar way to the election of people to official positions. A panel of judges, either formal judicial authorities or judges of the competition, may decide by voting. A group of friends or members of

630-423: A voter's votes to be piled on to one candidate. Different voting systems require different levels of support to be elected. Plurality voting ( First-past-the-post voting ) elects the candidate with more votes than any other single candidate. It does not require the winner to achieve a voting majority, to have more than half of the total votes cast. In First-past-the-post voting , when more than two candidates run,

675-470: A voting system that uses a ranked vote , the voter ranks the candidates in order of preference. For example, they might mark a preference for Bob in the first place, then Emily, then Alice, then Daniel, and finally Charlie. Ranked voting systems , such as those used in Australia and Ireland, use a ranked vote. In a voting system that uses a scored vote (or range vote ), the voter gives each alternative

720-440: Is also used in a PR format. PR-STV is used in Australia, Ireland and Malta. Quota is calculated. In say a four-seat constituency, quota (if Droop quota is used) is 20 percent of the valid vote plus 1. Every candidate with quota (of 1st preferences alone or combination of first preferences and later preferences) will be elected. If a candidate has more than a quota and seats are yet to be filled, his/her surplus will be distributed to

765-475: Is an official none of the above option and it is counted as a valid vote. Usually, blank and null votes are counted (together or separately) but are not considered valid. Modern political science has questioned whether average citizens have sufficient political knowledge to cast meaningful votes. A series of studies coming out of the University of Michigan in the 1950s and 1960s argued that many voters lack

810-436: Is elected; others without quota (but with more votes than any other single candidate) may be declared elected as well. Side effects of First-past-the-post voting include a waste of votes due to vote splitting , a two-party system and political polarization due to electing candidates that do not support centrism . To understand why a race using First-past-the-post voting tends to favor less-centric candidates, consider

855-449: Is generally confined to periodic elections . In a democracy, the government is elected by the people who vote in an election : a way for an electorate to elect , that is choose , from several different candidates. It is more than likely that elections will be between two opposing parties. These two will be the most established and most popular parties in the country. For example, in the US,

900-415: Is the subject of a branch of welfare economics known as social choice theory . In smaller organizations, voting can occur in many different ways: formally via ballot to elect others for example within a workplace, to elect members of political associations, or to choose roles for others; or informally with a spoken agreement or a gesture like a raised hand. In larger organizations, like countries , voting

945-491: Is thinned to the number of remaining open seats. In the Quota Borda System (QBS), the voters also cast their preferences, 1,2,3,4... as they wish. In the analysis, all 1st preferences are counted; all 2nd preferences are counted; after these preferences have been translated into points per the rules of a Modified Borda Count (MBC), the candidates' points are also counted. Seats are awarded to any candidates with

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990-646: Is to try to achieve the most authentic outcome, without any risk of pressure, threat, or services linked to one's vote; this way, a person is able to express their actual preferences. Voting often takes place at a polling station but voting can also be done remotely by mail or using internet voting (such as in Estonia ). Voting is voluntary in some countries, like the UK, but it may be required by law in others, such as Australia. There are many electoral methods. The purpose of an election may be to choose one person, such as

1035-457: The Assemblies of Yahweh , and some other religious groups , have a policy of not participating in politics and this extends to voting. Rabbis from all Jewish denominations encourage voting and some even consider it a religious obligation. The Catholic Church teaches that it is morally obligatory to vote. Whenever several people who do not all agree need to make some decision, voting is

1080-742: The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign , Abahlali baseMjondolo , and the Landless Peoples Movement . Other social movements in other parts of the world also have similar campaigns or non-voting preferences. These include the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and various anarchist-oriented movements. It is possible to make a blank vote , carrying out the act of voting, which may be compulsory, without selecting any candidate or option, often as an act of protest. In some jurisdictions, there

1125-517: The Condorcet rule is used (sometimes) in decision-making. The voters or elected representatives cast their preferences on one, some, or all options, 1,2,3,4... as in PR-STV or QBS. In the analysis, option A is compared to option B, and if A is more popular than B, then A wins this pairing. Next, A is compared with option C, then D, and so on. Likewise, B is compared with C, D, etc. The option which wins

1170-561: The article's talk page . Marla F. Frederick Marla Faye Frederick is an American ethnographer and scholar, with a focus on the African American religious experience. Her work addresses a range of topics including race, gender, religion and media studies. She became the eighteenth Dean of Harvard Divinity School on January 1, 2024. Frederick earned a BA in English from Spelman College and in 2000, earned

1215-520: The competition is between the Republicans and the Democrats. In an indirect democracy, voting is the method by which the person elected (in charge) represents the people, whilst making decisions. Direct democracy is the complete opposite, the people make the policy decisions directly without selecting a representative to do it for them. A majority vote is when more than half of voters vote for

1260-410: The first preferences. If no single candidate has 50% of the vote, then the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded and their votes are redistributed according to the voter's nominated order of preference. The process repeats itself until a candidate has 50% or more votes. The system is designed to produce the same result as an exhaustive ballot but using only a single round of voting. Ranked voting

1305-685: The majority runs multiple candidates, and if the minority group runs just one candidate. This minority rule success can also result if multiple winners are elected and voters cast multiple votes ( Plurality block voting ). But even if the majority is split among multiple candidates, proportionate results can still be produced if votes can be transferred, as under STV, or if multiple winners are elected and each voter has just one vote. Alternatives to First-past-the-post voting include approval voting , two-round , proportional representation , and instant-runoff voting . With approval voting , voters are encouraged to vote for as many candidates as they approve of, so

1350-452: The most individual votes (i.e. they may have lose the popular vote but still win the seat count). (It is also possible for a party to win plurality in a minority of constituencies (but more than any other one party) and thus win minority government.) All modern liberal democracies use voting by secret ballot to prevent individuals from becoming influenced by other people and to protect their political privacy . The objective of secret ballots

1395-606: The most pairings, (if there is one), is the Condorcet winner.--> When the citizens of a country are invited to vote, they are participating in an election. However, people can also vote in referendums and initiatives . Since the end of the eighteenth century, more than five hundred national referendums (including initiatives) were organized in the world; among them, more than three hundred were held in Switzerland . Australia ranked second with dozens of referendums. Most referendums are binary. The first multi-option referendum

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1440-486: The motto of Harvard University: “Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae,” in English “Truth for Christ and the Church.” This Christian theology article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an academic journal on Christianity studies is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See tips for writing articles about academic journals . Further suggestions might be found on

1485-407: The only way that a green marble is likely to win is if more than three-fifths of the voters prefer green. If the same number of people prefer green as those who prefer red and blue, that is to say, if one-third of the voters prefer green, one-third prefer blue, and one-third prefer red, then each green marble will only get one-ninth of the vote, if the green marbles each take same number of votes, while

1530-450: The other candidates in proportion to all of that candidate's 2nd preferences, in line with secondary preferences marked on the vote if any. If there are still candidates to be elected and no surplus votes to be transferred, the least-popular is eliminated, as above in AV or IRV, and the process continues until four candidates have reached a quota or are declared elected when the field of candidates

1575-573: The process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot , a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representatives by voting. The procedure for identifying the winners based on votes varies depending on both the country and the political office. Political scientists call these procedures electoral systems , while mathematicians and economists call them social choice rules . The study of these rules and what makes them good or bad

1620-401: The red and blue marbles will each get one-third, putting the green marbles at a serious disadvantage. If the experiment is repeated with other colors, the color that is in the majority (if the majority is split among multiple choices) will still rarely win. In other words, from a purely mathematical perspective, a single-winner system tends to favor a winner that is different from the majority, if

1665-409: The same person or party. However, whilst it is usually said each individual's vote does count, many countries use a combination of factors to decide who has power, not the at-large "popular vote". Most influential of these factors are districts that divide the electorate. For example, in the UK a party winning plurality in a majority of constituencies wins majority government, but they may not always have

1710-592: The two candidates with the most significant plurality run again for the second round of voting. Variants exist regarding these two points: the requirement for being elected at the first round is sometimes less than 50%, and the rules for participation in the runoff may vary. With single-round ranked voting, such as instant-runoff voting system as used in some elections in Australia and the United States, voters rank each candidate in order of preference (1,2,3,4 etc.). Votes are distributed to each candidate according to

1755-454: The winner commonly has less than half of the vote, as few as 18 percent was recorded in 2014 in Toronto. In Instant-runoff voting , a candidate must have a majority of votes to be elected, although presence of exhausted votes may mean that the majority at time of final count is not majority of votes cast. In STV, any candidate who takes quota (usually set at much less than half of the votes)

1800-402: The winner is much more likely to be any one of the five marbles because people who prefer green will be able to vote for every one of the green marbles. With two-round elections, the field of candidates is thinned prior to the second round of voting. In most cases, the winner must receive a majority of the votes, which is more than half. If no candidate obtains a majority in the first round, then

1845-912: Was Local Democracy Under Siege Activism, Public Interests, and Private Politics, which won the 2008 Society for the Anthropology of North America (SANA) Book Prize. Her first book on the relationship between television and religion was Colored Television: American Religion Gone Global (Stanford University Press, 2015). In 2016, Frederick co-authored Televised Redemption: Black Religious Media and Racial Empowerment with Carolyn Moxey Rouse and John L. Jackson Jr. Voting Condorcet methods Positional voting Cardinal voting Quota-remainder methods Approval-based committees Fractional social choice Semi-proportional representation By ballot type Pathological response Strategic voting Paradoxes of majority rule Positive results Voting refers to

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1890-848: Was Assistant Professor of Religion and African-American Studies at Harvard University . In 2008, she was the Joy Foundation Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. Frederick became the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 2019. Frederick has served as the President of the Association of Black Anthropologists . Frederick

1935-469: Was held in New Zealand in 1894, and most of them are conducted under a two-round system. New Zealand had a five-option referendum in 1992, while Guam had a six-option plebiscite in 1982, which also offered a blank option, in case some voters wanted to (campaign and) vote for a seventh option. Proxy voting is a form of voting in which a registered citizen who can legally vote passes on his or her vote to

1980-573: Was praised by reviewers; the review in Contemporary Sociology described it as a work that "puts a human face on so many sociological concepts and categories." In 2007, Frederick participated in a seven-author collaborative project in which scholars embedded themselves in North Carolina communities and observed how American democracy functioned in an "ordinary" community beyond just the act of voting . The resulting book

2025-543: Was the president of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in 2021. On August 24, 2023, Harvard University announced that Frederick would become Dean of Harvard Divinity School on January 1, 2024. Frederick's first book Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith (University of California Press, 2003), an ethnography of black church women in Halifax County , North Carolina ,

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