Acceptance Voting

Last updated April 12, 2025

Definition

Acceptance voting is a voting method similar to approval voting that features a distinction between acceptance and preference.

For each option, voters indicate first whether they would accept the option and second whether they prefer the option. The winning option is the one with the greatest acceptance, and if there is a tie then the winning option is the one with the greatest preference.

The Problem with Approval Voting

One common criticism of approval voting is that it is confusing to voters. What exactly does “approval” mean? It’s not as obvious as advocates of approval voting often assume.

The answer that acceptance voting posits is that the concept of approval is a conflation of acceptance and preference, and it is better to separate those concepts explicitly.

Greatest Acceptance = Least Resistance

To clarify the distinction between acceptance and preference, we can define acceptance as the absence of resistance. It is an absolute measure for a given option, independent of whatever other options are being considered.

Preference, on the other hand, is a relative ranking of options. Unlike acceptance, which can be determined for a single option in isolation, preference can only be determined when comparing one option to another.

From this perspective, acceptance voting reframes the goal of voting as resistance minimization rather than aggregating individual preferences into group preferences. In other words, acceptance voting is a method for converging on the path of least resistance in the context of group decision-making.

Intuitively, finding the path of least resistance is what groups tend to do anyway when seeking to maintain social harmony.

Individual vs Group Decision-making

The fundamental difference between decision-making as an individual and decision-making as a group comes down to the necessity of negotiation.

As an individual making an individual decision, no negotiation is needed. You simply choose the option you most prefer. There is no need to make any distinction between preference and acceptance.

However, as an individual participating in a group decision, negotiation is necessary. You must make tradeoffs in order to find mutual agreement between everyone in the group. The option that you most prefer might not be preferred by others in the group. Now the distinction between preference and acceptance becomes relevant, and acceptance is the more important of the two.

In group decision-making, the primary goal is to find an option that everyone is willing to accept, even if that option is not what you prefer.