[EM] Majority

[Forest Simmons]

I am both a mathematician and a citizen. My main interest in the realm of
election methods is to understand the theoretical limitations of practical
election methods. Theory is supposed to be the servant of practice ... not
the other way around.

Election methods are tools of democracy. As such they have a
psycho/politico aspect that we neglect at our own peril.

What can we realistically expect from the voters? How do they want to
express their preferences? How do they expect their preferences to be
incorporated into a decision?

For starters, most voters believe in some form of "majority rule."

If there is a candidate A that is preferred by more than half of the voters
over any other candidate A', then (all else being equal) A rather than A'
should be elected.

The problem is that sometimes there is no such ideal majority pairwise
candidate IMPC. Who should be elected in that case?

Answer: How about the candidate closest to being such an IMPC?

How do you determine "closeness"?

Why not by how few additional ballots would suffice to convert a candidate
into an IMPC?

Is this too hard for citizens of a democracy to accept?

What objections might there be?

How to overcome reservations and persuade the electorate?

-Forest
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