Condorcet analysis of Official PEP308 Ballots

[Peter Hansen]

Anthony Baxter wrote:
> 
> >>> Norman Petry wrote
> > Of course, the fact that the status quo is clearly preferred by a
> > majority in both votes does not necessarily mean that the ternary should
> > not be implemented.  It is likely that many features that have been
> > added to Python would not have received the support of a majority when
> > they were first introduced.  For this reason, the SOCIAL RANKING is
> > probably a much more useful result than the SINGLE WINNER when trying to
> > decide how to resolve this issue.
> 
> Um, huh? A vote was held, a majority said "no change", and suddenly now
> you're claiming that "obviously a vote isn't the important thing"?
> 
> For what it's worth, I ended up not voting, after all was said and done
> I ended up not caring whether it goes in or not. But to turn around after
> the vote with this sort of comment "well, not everything that went into
> python would have won a vote, that's not the important thing" seems like
> sour grapes of the worst sort.

Let's try this approach: the vote was NOT binding.  That could be a
reason to call it "not the most important thing" (thought I can't find
those words, or the ones you quoted, in Norman's posting).

Not only that, but even if a "majority" said "no change", weren't there
a larger number collectively asking for a change, but not agreeing on 
the specifics?  If that's so, and since the decision is entirely up to
Guido, he could well conclude from the results that there should be
a change, but that it should be (for example) his original proposal
as it's elegant and clean and easily implemented.  And while there may
be some, uh, "discussion" of this, it would be the *right* thing
since he is, after all, the BDFL.  

We wouldn't have Python without Guido's excellent judgment in the past, 
and it's time for him to exercise it again, regardless of the specific 
outcome of "the vote" (but taken it into account perhaps).  And there's
yet another sense in which "obviously a vote isn't the most important
thing" (i.e. Guido's decision _is_).

-Peter