Quadratic voting vs ranked-choice voting

Ranked-choice voting records an order of preference, so it is useful when the group needs to know which option each participant prefers first, second, third, and so on.

That order can be valuable, but it does not directly say whether a participant barely prefers one option or cares intensely about the difference.

Quadratic voting records costly intensity by letting participants allocate support or opposition across alternatives, while stronger positions become progressively more expensive.

In Nicolas, the decision record includes aggregate support, shifted-softmax outcome probabilities, and gross quadratic costs.

Use ranked-choice voting when the main goal is to aggregate ordinal rankings into a winner or ordering.

Use Nicolas when the decision needs intensity-aware signals, explicit accounting, delegation, and a transparent record of how strongly participants care.