Distributive policies

Distributive policies extend goods and services to members of an organization, as well as distributing the costs of the goods/services amongst the members of the organization. Examples include government policies that impact spending for welfare, public education, highways, and public safety, or a professional organization's policy on membership training.

Regulatory policies

Regulatory policies, or mandates, limit the discretion of individuals and agencies, or otherwise compel certain types of behavior. These policies are generally thought to be best applied in situations where good behavior can be easily defined and bad behavior can be easily regulated and punished through fines or sanctions. An example of a fairly successful public regulatory policy is that of a speed limit.

Voting and electoral systems (optional)

An electoral or voting system allows voters to choose between options, often in an election where candidates are selected for public office. Voting can be also used to award prizes, to select between different plans of action, or by a computer program to find a solution to a problem. Voting can be contrasted with consensus decision making.

A voting system contains rules for valid voting, and how votes are aggregated to yield a final result.

Voting systems are either majority rule, proportional representation or plurality voting. Given the simplicity of majority rule, those who are unfamiliar with voting theory are often surprised that another voting system exists, or that "majority rule" systems can produce results not supported by a majority. If every election had only two choices, the winner would be determined using majority rule alone. However, when there are three or more options, there may not be a single option that is preferred by a majority. Different voting systems may give very different results, particularly in cases where there is no clear majority preference.

Aspects of voting systems

A voting system specifies the form of the ballot, the set of allowable votes, and the tallying method, an algorithm for determining the outcome. This outcome may be a single winner, or may involve multiple winners such as in the election of a legislative body. The voting system may also specify how voting power is distributed among the voters, and how voters are divided into subgroups (constituencies) whose votes are counted independently.

The ballot

In a simple plurality ballot, the voter is expected to mark only one selection.

Different voting systems have different forms for allowing the individual to express his or her vote. In ranked ballot or "preference" voting systems, such as instant-runoff voting, the Borda count, or a Condorcet method, voters order the list of options from most to least preferred. In plurality voting (also known as "first-past-the-post"), voters select only one option, while in approval voting, they can select as many as they want.

Some voting systems include additional choices on the ballot, such as write-in candidates, a none of the above option, or a no confidence in that candidate option.