Borda system in Italy?

[Simfan34]

The Borda count is a ranked voting system that assigns points to candidates in the order they are ranked, with a voter's highest-ranked candidate receiving a number of points equal to the number of candidates (n), the second receiving n-1, and so forth. This system is considered to advantage centrist candidates who can attract moderate yet broad support.

Now, from 1946 to 1992 Italian politics was dominated by the centrist Democrazia Cristiana party. Aside from the corruption scandals, the change from a strict proportional system (characterised by continuous DC-led coalitions) to a mixed system where the majority of seats were elected by FPTP certainly played a role in their demise and the (incomplete) polarisation of Italian politics. Indeed, the recent electoral reforms were justified on the grounds that they would reduce the chances of future grand coalitions.

The question here is, then, putting aside the issue of the internal disarray that led to its breakup in the run-up to the 1994 elections, could a centrist party like DC perpetuate its dominance through the use of the Borda system, or a mix of single-member Borda/closed-list PR?

More speculatively, would this even be feasible given the relative novelty of the Borda system, and/or would it be seen as immediately transparent in purpose?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I don't think the Borda system has any rationality to it, tbh, so I find it hard to speculate on what outcomes it would produce.

[Antonio the Sixth]

If you're talking about the specific context of 1992-1994 Italy, I don't think any voting system could have saved the DC. I'm guessing the Segni alliance, which was an attempt to salvage part of what remained of the DC, could have done better under such a system, but the Berlusconi wave was strong enough at the time that I doubt it would have made much difference. The DC's right-wing ended up finding a good place within Berlusconi's alliance, and its left-wing within the Ulivo, soon enough anyway, so the survival of the PPI or something like it wasn't the priority for all post-DC people.