[EM] some questions about utility

[Stephen Turner]

Is anyone there willing to write an Electowiki page
(or
point us to an existing place) about the relationship
between voting and utility/welfare?
There seems to be nothing on the usual sites.

It would be useful to have a summary of
the evidence (for and against):
- the relevance of utility
- its measurability
- relationship between utility and actual vote cast. 
Is
it reasonable to suppose that someone who wishes to
vote 
sincerely, in a method whose ballot design and 
counting rules permit it, would just list their
utilities?

It was recently claimed here that we should seek to
maximise total utility (sum over all voters).  Is
there any reason why
this is superior to any of the following:
- maximise median utility
- utility of at least x for at least y % of voters
(where
  we could seek to maximise x for some fixed y,
  or vice versa, or something else)
- maximise the minimum utility (perhaps in
  a small committee/tribunal).

Also, utility is generally used to define expectation,
in terms
of the expected value of the act of voting as compared
to
abstention.  The rational voter would seek to maximise
their expectation.  What would be the correct thing to
do if abstention were not possible?  Thanks, 
--
Stephen


		
______________________________________________ 
Renovamos el Correo Yahoo! 
Nuevos servicios, más seguridad 
http://correo.yahoo.es