Word: pr
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Under the most common form of PR, a voter ranks the candidates in order of his preference by writing 1, 2, 3, etc. next to their names...
Basically, PR does this by requiring a relatively small number of votes for election, and by assuring that a minority group's votes will be channeled toward its strongest candidates...
...Given these effects, it's no surprise that PR has generally been backed by political reformers and opposed by "organization" politicians in the United States. Though some 25 U. S. cities adopted the system during the earlier part of the century, Cambridge is now the only one to retain it for municipal elections. Princeton, Stanford, and the University of Chicago use PR for elections to their faculty senates...
...general effects of PR, however, are quite simple; it gives minority candidates a better chance of election and reduces the incentives for continuing political organizations...
...most part, PR's elimination of the winner-take-all character of most systems of district or at-large voting means that a minority of any appreciable size will obtain representation...