[EM] Borda for circular tie? No.

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

Someone wrote:

I'm wondering what the verdict is on using Borda as the tie breaker for
deciding within the Schwartz Set.  Some of the strongest Condorcet
advocates on this list feel that Borda is actually superior to
Condorcet *if* it can be ensured that only sincere voting is going on.
So if Borda is used only as a tiebreaker (which would only be rarely
needed), then there wouldn't be an incentive to use insincere
techniques that would normally work with Borda.

I reply:

No you can't assume sincerity in circular tie solutions. Sometimes the same 
offensive strategy that makes a circular tie can profit in the resultlng 
tiebreaker.

Sure, Borda has been suggested as a circular tie solution. Duncan Black 
suggested using Borda to solve circular ties. It seems to me that his 
suggestion was to apply Borda to a count among all the candidates. Others 
have suggested Borda among the Smith set. And you suggest Borda among the 
Schwartz set, which, in public elections, will be identical to the Smith 
set.

I've had lengthy discussions with an advocate of Borda in the Smith set, and 
I showed him how easily that method rewards and falls to offensive strategy.

I can write the bad-examples again if you'd like.

Mike Ossipoff

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