Editing Disapproval voting (section)

==Voting against==
There are a variety of interpretations of the meaning of a negative vote.  The term is sometimes used for allowing a voter to reject the entire field of candidates; it can also mean that the only option offered voters is to vote against one or more candidates, but it is sometimes used for systems that allow a voter to choose whether to vote for or against a candidate.

The psychology of [[veto]]ing, protesting, excluding individuals or options, or removing an incumbent, triggers a very different [[cognitive bias]] and mode of [[risk]] aversion on the part of voters, legislators, or board members - thus it is an over-simplification to think of disapproval as simply 'negative approval'. Similar asymmetries apply in economics, where they are studied in [[behavioral finance]], and in social sciences and [[ethics]], as the expression of tolerances versus preferences, e.g. as in [[opinion poll]]s.

The well-known [[Balloon debate|lifeboat game]] is often portrayed in fiction as having a disapproval voting form, with the poor individual who is most disapproved of being tossed overboard.

General-purpose methods of disapproval voting, e.g. for use in general elections as an [[electoral reform]], have been proposed and discussed by political scientists, but there is little literature on the subject. Most discussion of the issue is concentrated in the theory of [[consensus decision making]], where small numbers of members disapproving of a measure have disproportionate power to block it.

Also, there has been an explosion of application of disapproval voting electoral systems in the [[reality game show]], as noted below. Most people are familiar with the concept only from these shows.