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The structured value referendum: Eliciting preferences for environmental policy alternatives
Author(s) -
McDaniels Timothy L.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6688(199621)15:2<227::aid-pam4>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - referendum , preference , preference elicitation , voting , structuring , government (linguistics) , process (computing) , value (mathematics) , computer science , environmental economics , public economics , management science , economics , politics , political science , machine learning , microeconomics , law , linguistics , philosophy , finance , operating system
This article introduces a voting‐based method for eliciting public preferences, referred to as a structured value referendum (SVR). The process for developing and implementing an SVR is viewed as a version of public sector decision analysis, in which problem‐structuring activities are crucial, and preference is elicited on a large scale by voters selecting among specified alternatives. The present study discusses the steps involved in developing an SVR, drawing on the problem‐structuring approaches of decision analysis. Next, the advantages offered by SVR are discussed and compared to standard preference elicitation techniques or conventional referendums. A rationale for the use of SVR as an approach to preference elicitation is provided. Political judgments that differentiate SVR from other elicitation approaches are considered; the nature of the preference judgments and the required level of measurement are discussed. Concluding sections of the study discuss the implementation of an SVR for a regional government in British Columbia, in which 34,000 people voted to select among wastewater treatment alternatives for managing a potential environmental risk.