A Passion for Connections

Bryan Frandsen is truly is passionate about making interdisciplinary connections, and believes that “every single person will benefit from the interdisciplinary perspective Honors gives you.” That is one of the many reasons why the BYU Honors Program called out to him.

Bryan exudes an honors perspective in his research, schoolwork, and social interactions. He is known for saying “Well this is kind of like economics…” whenever he is trying to teach or understand an idea. This is because “everything is economics because economics is the study of choice, and everything is a choice” he claimed. He is constantly making unexpected connections between economics and various subjects. As a TA, he was even asked by a student for an example of a noneconomic situation, and his answer was “There has not, nor will there ever be, a noneconomic situation, because in everything… you are going to make choices and you are not going to have infinite resources.”

Bryan is an advocate for making interdisciplinary connections and welcoming all perspectives to understand something. In a fictitious Honors court, Bryan would invite everyone to see any situation through multiple lenses, because “every problem, every issue, has a lot of different ways to approach it, and I think that in most cases, the more approaches we use, the better off we will be.” He took this outlook and applied it to his thesis, as he applied economics to politics, people, and public opinion.

The title of Brian’s thesis is “Does Duverger’s Law Apply to Alternate Voting Rules?” Let’s break that down. Brian explained Duverger’s Law as the law that “in a plurality rule election, there are really only two serious candidates.” Then, the alternate voting rule that he focused on is rank choice voting. This is when a voter will report their total ranking of favored candidates, and if their top candidate gets eliminated, their vote goes to their second choice. Ideally, this would prevent the fear that voters are throwing away their vote if they do not vote for the top two candidates. He explained that “my goal is with this thesis, I can hopefully give… people, who are talking about whether they want to apply rank choice voting in their community or … in the country at large… results on what rank choice voting is going to look like.”

In economics, Bryan explained that there are two statements that explain the why behind economics research and why he is interested in alternate voting rules to begin with. The first is a positive statement, which is a factual, unopinionated statement that attempts to explain a phenomenon. The second is a normative statement, and this explains the personal why of research. In application, the positive statement of Bryan’s research will be whether or not Duverger’s Law holds true in rank choice voting. The normative statement is whether or not rank-choice voting will make a difference in voting systems. Bryan’s personal curiosity stems from an interest in the United States’ two-party system and helping educate a public discussion for or against the two-party system. He said, “We’re interested in positive questions and the answers to positive questions because of their normative implications.”

Through his research, he does not intend to make a political statement one way or the other. He simply wants to explore alternatives to the two-party system, since “there’s no theory work about it at all.” Bryan is pioneering this research, and the impact of this information could be significant going forward. It affects how people vote, why they vote, the results of their votes, and more. Those reading this article will be influenced by the research of Brian’s thesis since they will either vote in the future or be impacted by the results of a vote in their community or country.

Just to give a little sneak peek, Brian said that “it’s not looking great for rank choice voting,” but only time will tell as he continues his research! Bryan is planning to take his interdisciplinary thinking with him when he graduates this December in 2023, and he will continue to promote making unexpected connections, especially within economics. He invites everyone to consider problems, assignments, and situations through various lenses. It is then that we understand the people around us—that we understand the world.

Bryan is a senior Honors student, majoring in Economics. He calls Pleasant Grove, Utah home, and he served a mission in the Trinidad Port of Spain, including areas such as Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Guyana, and Suriname, speaking Dutch! He enjoys spending time with friends and family, mountain biking, reading, playing games, and satisfying his curiosity for the world around him. After his bachelor’s, Bryan plans to attend law school, with an interest in specializing in intellectual property law. He also expressed a fascination with theory and political economics.