Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M5135

Tactical Voting

Tactical Voting
DecideHigh supportDecision Science
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Voters in an election do not vote for the candidate they truly support (because they think that candidate cannot win), but instead vote for another candidate they dislike less and who has a chance of winning, in order to prevent the candidate they most dislike from being elected.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

The game of second-best choices. In decisions with limited resources (such as multi-party negotiations), insisting on the 'optimal solution' often leads to the 'worst solution'. Learning to strategically support the 'second-best solution' is mature wisdom for reaching compromise and avoiding the worst outcome.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Voters, knowing that their first choice is unlikely to win, cast their vote for a second-best candidate who can defeat the worst candidate, thereby strategically influencing the outcome.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

  • link
    zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AD%96%E7%95%A5%E6%80%A7%E6%8A%95%E7%A5%A8ZH · Explicit
    verified

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