Majority decisions when abstention is possible

Paul Larson*, Nicholas Matteo, Saharon Shelah

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Suppose that we are given a family of choice functions on pairs from a given finite set. The set is considered as a set of alternatives (say candidates for an office) and the functions as potential "voters." The question is, what choice functions agree, on every pair, with the majority of some finite subfamily of the voters? For the problem as stated, a complete characterization was given in Shelah (2009) [7], but here we allow voters to abstain. Aside from the trivial case, the possible families of (partial) choice functions break into three cases in terms of the functions that can be generated by majority decision. In one of these, cycles along the lines of Condorcet's paradox are avoided. In another, all partial choice functions can be represented.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1336-1352
Number of pages17
JournalDiscrete Mathematics
Volume312
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Apr 2012

Keywords

  • Choice function
  • Condorcet's paradox
  • Majority decision
  • Tournament

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Majority decisions when abstention is possible'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this