[EM] Clarifying the definitions

[Markus Schulze]

Dear Mike,

you wrote (31 Jan 2004):
> Markus says that the academics use "preference" in the way that you
> interpreted it. But I believe that my meaning for it is in keeping with
> people's usage, and dictionaries, and that, if the academics mean
> "preference" as Markus says they do, then it is they who are changing its
> meaning.
>
> Markus also said that the academics always define criteria in terms of
> actual votes, ballots, rather than mentioning "preference" in the usual
> sense of that word. Markus prefers that also. However, the fact that others
> only mention ballots doesn't mean that it's somehow improper to refer to
> preferences.

Election methods are usually defined as a function from a given input
(e.g. a set of partial rankings of the candidates) to a given output
(e.g. a probability distribution on the set of candidates). Where this
input comes from is of no concern for the analysis of this election
method.

Markus Schulze