Blake Cretney said: > On Mon, 2003-02-24 at 11:56, Alex Small wrote: > >> Saari: Anybody who thinks A is the favorite of the electorate really >> doesn't understand how to deduce the true preferences of the voters. >> Here's some geometry to show why.... > > Is that a real Saari quote, or a parody?
Parody, but not too far from the truth. I don't have his book in front of me, but he says something to the effect that (paraphrase) "In profiles where A is the first choice of the majority but B is the Borda winner, the geometry of the situation strongly suggests that A is not the true favorite of the electorate." I think he's referring to the fact that in 66 ABC 34 BCA the ABC faction has given B second-place support, when they could have put him in third place. Meanwhile, the BCA faction has indicated a strong dislike of A by putting him last. This indicates that B is a compromise candidate. Of course, this seems to hinge on the dubious assumption that relative rankings in some way reflect absolute utilities. If A, B, and C are Great, Awesome, and Awful, there will be little difference in utility between my first and second choices, but a huge difference in utility between my second and third. If the candidates are Awesome, Mediocre, and Aweful, then they may be more or less evenly spaced in terms of utility. Alex ---- For more information about this list (subscribe, unsubscribe, FAQ, etc), please see http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/em
