The California Primary’s Top-Two System Is Exactly the Kind of Electoral Innovation That Governments Experiment With

The Market Test of Whether an Electoral Reform Produces Better Governance Is the Election Results Over Multiple Cycles

From Bohiney and The London Prat.

The Market Test of Whether an Electoral Reform Produces Better Governance Is the Election Results Over Multiple Cycles

The Reform

SACRAMENTO — California’s top-two primary system, which sends the two candidates with the most votes to the general election regardless of party, was a government experiment in electoral system design. The specific hypothesis: primary competition across party lines produces more competitive general elections, more moderate candidates, and more representative governance than partisan primaries that select ideologically extreme candidates for safe seats. The experiment has now run for fifteen years. The evidence about whether it produced the intended outcomes is available for assessment.

The Evidence Assessment

The evidence assessment of the top-two reform: it has produced Democratic-on-Democratic general elections in safe Democratic districts, which was an intended outcome (more competitive within the majority party). It has produced the specific California governor race dynamics where Tom Steyer’s $132 million is the dominant variable, which was not the intended outcome (the reform was designed to reduce the power of party apparatus, not to amplify the power of individual wealth). The specific unintended consequence of the reform is the specific market outcome that the reform’s designers did not anticipate.

The Electoral Market

The electoral market is the specific market where the private market’s normal efficiency mechanisms do not fully apply: the ‘buyer’ (voter) is choosing between ‘products’ (candidates) under conditions of high information asymmetry, the ‘product quality’ (governance quality) is not directly observable at the time of purchase, and the specific consumer protections (recall, term limits) are blunt instruments compared to the market mechanisms for consumer product quality. The top-two reform is the specific electoral market design intervention that California has been running. The results are the market test.

The Surfer’s Analogy

The surfer’s analogy: the top-two primary is the specific wave selection mechanism of the California competitive calendar — letting the two best waves advance rather than designating one Democrat wave and one Republican wave. The best waves (candidates) win. The problem: ‘best’ in an electoral context is measured by who has the most $132 million, not by who surfs the wave most skillfully. The analogy breaks down where analogies always break down: markets work when the pricing mechanism is efficient. Electoral pricing is not efficient in the same way. Read The Daily Mash.

More: The Daily Mash.

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SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/

The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it.