Approval majority giveaway

Mike Ositoff ntk at netcom.com
Wed Sep 30 00:52:04 PDT 1998


I'd like to refer again to Demorep's example where (using
my Nader, Clinton & Dole terms), Nader has a majority, but
his voters don't know it, & so they also vote for Clinton,
in Approval.

To believe that they need to vote for Clinton, they must believe
that Dole has a plurality. Nader has a majority, but his
voters believe that Dole has a plurality? Come on. Possible,
but how likely? And yet that's the only way Approval can 
fail to elect a CW by giveaway in that example.

You could say that the same is true in Plurality (FPP), but
the difference is that, as I said, it takes twice as many
to give victory away in Approval, and if it happens it isn't
an equilibrium.

Mike Ossipoff




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