Word of the Week: Plurality

Word of the Week:  Plurality

Happy Thanksgiving!  (Though I recognize for all of you south of the 49th it's not until next month)

Today's word comes from the short 15 minute film that was recently released of the same name;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzryBRPwsog

In this case, the definition used is "The state of being plural"  - where there are two identical people when there really should only be one.  In fiction, this trope is played up with doppelgängers  identical twins (Prince and the Pauper, The Parent Trap, Ringer, etc), or, yes, even time travel (Although, apparently, it's a *very* bad idea to meet yourself when you time travel.  Of course that presumption assumes the concept of a Paradox, but I assert that there is no such thing as a Paradox when dealing with time travel because of either separate timelines or a re-writing of the existing one - but I am now on a tangent that's probably best for a separate article!)

Another context I've heard this recently is in politics - specifically the electoral process used in determining a party's candidate.  From wikipedia:  "Used in the context of voting, refers to the largest number of votes to be received by any candidate (or any proposal in a referendum)." This usage of the word dates back to 1828.

Colloquially, people use the word 'majority' in this context.  However, a majority is 'more than 50% of the votes'  Whenever there are more than 2 options (including 'abstain' as one of the options) you have a possibility that no option will have more than 50% of the vote, but one will have more votes than any of the others.

For example, in Alberta's 2012 Provincial Election there are a total of 10 parties that run - even though we are an extremely conservative province and the Progressive Conservatives always win.  This year, however, there was a bit of a shake-up as a new contender - the Wildrose Alliance - tried to steal the conservative spotlight.  Due to a last-minute gaff (which turned into a complete meltdown of the part's platform) the Progressive Conservatives came in with 43.95% to Wildrose's 32.29%.  This is not a majority, but is the plurality, which is what lead to Alison Redford claiming the title of Premier (Being the first woman in Alberta's history to do so, apparently - though that would have happened even if Wildrose had won, since Danielle Smith is also a woman.)

Lastly, the term Plurality is also used in context of religious governance, where decisions are made by a council (usually referred to as 'elders') instead of by a single individual, such as a Pastor.  According to the wikipidia article on the subject - this is common amongst Presbyterian and Jehovah's Witnesses.


If you liked the linked video - I strongly suggest the Canadian science-fiction series Continuum, as well as the US show Person of Interest.  Both of these shows have similar tie-ins to this short film that are worth watching.