[EM] Monotonicity, but Participation too

[Markus Schulze]

Dear Blake,

you wrote (16 July 2000):
> So, is your position that it is impossible for the choice of
> electoral method to affect the quality of government?  Or that we
> have no hope of choosing methods that provide better government?

My position is that it is not possible to measure the "quality" of
the government in an objective manner.

You wrote (16 July 2000):
> Would you say that in the following situation,
>
> 70 A > B
> 30 B > A
>
> that we cannot say whether A or B is the correct choice, in the
> sense that I am using the word "correct"?  That is, that we cannot
> say which choice will in general provide the better government.

To my opinion, candidate A should be elected because more than half
of the voters strictly prefer candidate A to every other candidate.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that candidate A is objectively
the better governor.

If you want to say "Vox populi vox dei!" then I have to disagree
with you.

Markus Schulze
schulze at sol.physik.tu-berlin.de
schulze at math.tu-berlin.de
markusschulze at planet-interkom.de