[EM] Pairwise Median Rating

C.Benham cbenham at adam.com.au
Fri Jan 26 16:41:12 PST 2024


Of course!  Thanks.  Pardon the brain fade.

Normally Smith sets don't have two members, but your example didn't 
mention a third member or say how many candidates there are or how many
rating slots the ballots have.

So maybe there is another candidate F (which is in the Smith set) and 
the ballots have 6 slots, so our Score ballot interpretation becomes

D6, E5, A4, B2, F0.

So then our calculation becomes  4+2+0/3 = 2.

Only A is scored higher than 2, so the ballot only approves A.

> This is a nice technique, but it is not clone resistant. Adding Smith 
> candidate clones can change the average and thus the approval cutoff 
> would change. This seems unstable to me.

With ratings ballots I think only candidates that get the same rating on 
every ballot are considered clones.  And besides that I think that more 
than three candidates in the Smith set would be vanishingly rare.

Chris



On 27/01/2024 5:40 am, Ted Stern wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 22, 2024 at 7:07 PM C.Benham <cbenham at adam.com.au> wrote:
>
>     Ted,
>
>>     ...you didn't comment on whether ballots with all Smith
>>     candidates below top rating should have their ratings bumped up:
>>     i.e., D > E > A > blank > B  (A and B in Smith) would be
>>     recounted as A > blank > B. 
>
>     I don't think I left anything ambiguous.
>
>     Assuming in your example we are using say 5-slot ratings ballots
>     then we interpret it as a score ballot thus:  D5, E4, A3, B0.
>
>     If A and B are in Smith then the average score of candidates in
>     the Smith set is  3+0/2 = 1.5.   Only A is scored above 1.5 so
>     only A is approved.
>
>
> This is a nice technique, but it is not clone resistant. Adding Smith 
> candidate clones can change the average and thus the approval cutoff 
> would change. This seems unstable to me.
>
> I think a better technique is to either have an explicit cutoff which 
> is lowered per ballot so that max(Smith score) is approved, or to make 
> the cutoff such that candidates with max(Smith candidate score)/2 or 
> greater per ballot are approved. I prefer the former.
>
>>     I also noticed that there were cases where Smith//ASM(implicit)
>>     would get different results (better, IMO) than
>>     Smith//Implicit-approval.
>>
>
>     What does "ASM" stand for?
>
>
> Approval Sorted Margins 
> <https://electowiki.org/wiki/Approval_Sorted_Margins>
>
>
>     Chris
>
>
>     On 23/01/2024 10:56 am, Ted Stern wrote:
>>     Chris:
>>
>>     Thanks for the clarifications, though you didn't comment on
>>     whether ballots with all Smith candidates below top rating should
>>     have their ratings bumped up: i.e., D > E > A > blank > B  (A and
>>     B in Smith) would be recounted as A > blank > B. I think this
>>     makes the most sense as a voter whose favorites are eliminated
>>     would want to ensure that their highest ranked Smith candidate is
>>     counted as approved.
>>
>>     In general I agree with your comments, though I think
>>     Condorcet//Approval with all ranked ballots approved is probably
>>     not optimal, and Approval Sorted Margins with explicit approval
>>     would be too complex for a public proposal. I'd be happy with
>>     Condorcet//Top-ratings as a public proposal.
>>
>>     Smith//Implicit-approval seems to perform well in a number of
>>     situations, but not appreciably better enough to make it worth
>>     the effort of trying to get people to accept something more
>>     complicated than Condorcet/Top-ratings. I also noticed that there
>>     were cases where Smith//ASM(implicit) would get different results
>>     (better, IMO) than Smith//Implicit-approval.
>>
>>
>>     On Fri, Jan 19, 2024 at 4:05 PM C.Benham <cbenham at adam.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>>         How is the average calculated?
>>
>>         We interpret the ratings ballots as score ballots, giving
>>         zero points for the bottom rating (which is default for unrated),
>>         1 point for the next highest, 2 points for the next above
>>         that and so on.
>>
>>         Then for any given ballot we add up the scores of the
>>         candidates in the Smith set and divide that by the number of
>>         candidates
>>         in the Smith set and interpret that ballot as approving those
>>         Smith set candidates it scores higher than that average score.
>>
>>         That simulates the best approval strategy if the voters only
>>         know which candidates are in the Smith set.
>>
>>>         What advantage does Approval Sorted Margins have over
>>>         Smith//Implicit-Approval?
>>
>>         Do you mean Approval Sorted Margins using ranking ballots
>>         with an explicit approval cutoff?
>>
>>         Assuming yes, it uses a more expressive ballot, it is less
>>         vulnerable to Defection strategy, and burial strategies are more
>>         likely to have no effect rather than backfire.
>>
>>         In the method I proposed, omitting the ASM step and just
>>         electing the candidate with the highest approval score (derived
>>         as specified) would I concede make for a simpler method that
>>         is nearly as good.
>>
>>         I worry a bit that with all methods that begin with
>>         eliminating or disqualifying all candidates who aren't in the
>>         Smith set or
>>         just "elect the CW if there is one", over time if there is
>>         never a top cycle then the top-cycle resolution method could stop
>>         being taken seriously.
>>
>>         An attractive feature of ASM is that it is a Condorcet method
>>         that a lot of the time would work fine without anyone needing
>>         to know if there is top cycle or not.
>>
>>         If the Approval order is  A>B>C  and A pairwise beats B and B
>>         pairwise beats C no-one needs to enquire about the pairwise
>>         result between A and C.
>>
>>         If we want something super simple to explain and sell, then 
>>         Condorcet//Top Ratings and Condorcet//Approval (voted above
>>         bottom)
>>         are both not bad and much better than STAR.
>>
>>         Chris Benham
>>
>>
>>
>>         On 18/01/2024 10:13 am, Ted Stern wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>         On Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 7:27 AM C.Benham
>>>         <cbenham at adam.com.au> wrote:
>>>
>>>             Ted,
>>>
>>>>               3. Otherwise, drop ballots that don't contain ranks above last for
>>>>                    any member of the Smith Set.
>>>
>>>             Why not simply drop all ballots that make no distinction
>>>             among members of the Smith set?
>>>
>>>>             I believe it passes LNHelp.
>>>
>>>             Douglas Woodall showed some time ago that Condorcet and
>>>             LNHelp are incompatible.  I can't find
>>>             his proof, but it says so here:
>>>
>>>             https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Later-no-help_criterion
>>>
>>>>             TheCondorcet criterion
>>>>             <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condorcet_criterion>is
>>>>             incompatible with later-no-help.
>>>
>>>             From your post again:
>>>>             It probably fails Participation ..
>>>
>>>             It has been known (for a longer time) that Condorcet and
>>>             Participation are incompatible.
>>>
>>>             So since we know for sure that your method meets
>>>             Condorcet, we also know that it doesn't meet
>>>             Later-no-Help or Participation.
>>>
>>>             Using a multi-slot ratings ballot for a Condorcet method
>>>             of similar complexity I like:
>>>
>>>             *Eliminate  all candidates not in the Smith set.
>>>
>>>             Interpret each ballot as giving approval to those
>>>             remaining candidates they rate above average (mean
>>>             of the ratings given to Smith-set members).
>>>
>>>             Now, using these approvals, elect the Margins-Sorted
>>>             Approval winner.*
>>>
>>>
>>>         It seems to me that Smith//Implicit-Approval or
>>>         Smith//implicit-approval-sorted-margins would be affected by
>>>         a couple of factors:
>>>
>>>           * How is the average calculated? Do you normalize scores?
>>>             In other words, if a ballot has non-Smith candidates in
>>>             the first, say, three ranks, do you up-rank the Smith
>>>             candidate scores on that ballot by three? Also, if there
>>>             are ranks below the top that contain only non-Smith
>>>             candidates, do you collapse those ranks or leave the
>>>             relative rank spacing on the ballot between Smith
>>>             candidates untouched?
>>>           * Approving Smith Candidates with scores above the mean
>>>             has similarities to Median Ratings. It would be more
>>>             similar and probably more stable to use the trimmed mean
>>>             -- drop the top and bottom 25% of scores. This would
>>>             give you an average score closer to the median.
>>>
>>>         What advantage does Approval Sorted Margins have over
>>>         Smith//Implicit-Approval? I like ASM but fear it is probably
>>>         too complex for any advantage it gives you.
>>>
>>>
>>>>             Has Smith//Median Rating been proposed before?
>>>             Not that I know of.
>>>
>>>             Chris Benham
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>             *Ted Stern*dodecatheon at gmail.com
>>>>             <mailto:election-methods%40lists.electorama.com?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BEM%5D%20Pairwise%20Median%20Rating&In-Reply-To=%3CCAHGFzOSm%3Deni2SuD5YRMrYBu4Gn9%2BYQ2NrqC_sXG8QFPrcVApQ%40mail.gmail.com%3E>
>>>>             /Tue Jan 2 15:12:26 PST 2024/
>>>>
>>>>               * Previous message (by thread):[EM] [Game Theory]
>>>>                 Iterated Prisoners' Dilemma as a voting method
>>>>                 metric
>>>>                 <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2024-January/005215.html>
>>>>               * Next message (by thread):[EM] Pairwise Median
>>>>                 Rating
>>>>                 <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2024-January/005218.html>
>>>>               * *Messages sorted by:*[ date ]
>>>>                 <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2024-January/date.html#5216>[
>>>>                 thread ]
>>>>                 <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2024-January/thread.html#5216>[
>>>>                 subject ]
>>>>                 <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2024-January/subject.html#5216>[
>>>>                 author ]
>>>>                 <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2024-January/author.html#5216>
>>>>
>>>>             ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>             Continuing my search for a summable voting method that discourages burial
>>>>             and defection, I've come across this hybrid of Condorcet and median ratings
>>>>             that acts like Smith/Approval with an automatic approval cutoff. I'm
>>>>             calling it Pairwise Median Rating (PMR), but it could also be described as
>>>>             Smith//MR//Pairwise//MRScore:
>>>>
>>>>                 1. Equal Ranking and ranking gap allowed (essentially a ratings method
>>>>                 with rank inferred). For purposes of this discussion, assume 6 slots (5
>>>>                 ranks above rejection).
>>>>                 2. In rank notation for this method, '>>' refers to a gap. So 'A >> B'
>>>>                 means A gets top rank while B gets 3rd place. Similarly '>>>' means a gap
>>>>                 of two slots: 'A>>>B' means A is top ranked while B is in 4th place.
>>>>                 3. [Smith]
>>>>                    1. Compute the pairwise preference array
>>>>                    2. The winner is the candidate who defeats each other candidate
>>>>                    pairwise.
>>>>                    3. Otherwise, drop ballots that don't contain ranks above last for
>>>>                    any member of the Smith Set.
>>>>                 4. [Median Rating]
>>>>                    1. Set the MR threshold to top rank.
>>>>                    2. While no Smith candidate has a majority of undropped ballots at or
>>>>                    above the threshold, set the threshold to the next lower rank,
>>>>             until there
>>>>                    is no lower rank.
>>>>                    3. The winner is the single candidate that has a majority of
>>>>                    undropped ballots at or above the threshold.
>>>>                 5. [Pairwise]
>>>>                 1. Otherwise, if more than one candidate passes the threshold, look for
>>>>                    a pairwise beats-all candidate among candidates meeting the MR threshold.
>>>>                    (i.e. Condorcet on just the MR threshold set).
>>>>                    2.  If there is one, you have a winner.
>>>>                 6. [MR Score]
>>>>                 1. Otherwise, the winner is the Smith set candidate with the largest
>>>>                    number of ballots at or above the Median Rating threshold (their MRscore).
>>>>
>>>>             This method is essentially Smith//Approval(explicit) with the approval
>>>>             cutoff automatically inferred via median ratings
>>>>
>>>>             Step Smith.3, dropping non-Smith-candidate-voting ballots, could be
>>>>             considered optional, but by doing that, you ensure Immunity from Irrelevant
>>>>             Ballots (IIB), aka the zero ballot problem that affects other Median Rating
>>>>             / Majority Judgment methods. In other words, the majority threshold is
>>>>             unaffected by ballots that do not rank a viable candidate. It is possible
>>>>             to do this summably if need be.
>>>>
>>>>             PMR either passes the Chicken Dilemma criterion without adjustment, or
>>>>             there is a downranking strategy for defending against defection.
>>>>
>>>>             Consider the following examples from Chris Benham's post re MinLV(erw)
>>>>             Sorted Margins (
>>>>             http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2016-October/000599.html
>>>>             ):
>>>>
>>>>             >/* 46 A>B /*>* 44 B>C (sincere is B or B>A)
>>>>             *>* 05 C>A
>>>>             *>* 05 C>B
>>>>             *>>* A>B 51-49,    B>C  90-10,    C>A 54-46.
>>>>             *
>>>>
>>>>             With sincere ballots, A is the Condorcet Winner (CW).  With B's defection,
>>>>             there is a cycle, and there is no CW. The Smith set is {A, B, C}. The MR
>>>>             threshold is 2nd place, and A and B both pass the threshold. A defeats B,
>>>>             so A is the winner and B's defection/burial fails.
>>>>
>>>>             >/* 25 A>B /*>* 26 B>C
>>>>             *>* 23 C>A
>>>>             *>* 26 C
>>>>             *>>* C>A  75-25,    A>B  48-26,   B>C  51-49*
>>>>
>>>>             C wins with PMR (MR threshold is first place). B would win with most
>>>>             other Condorcet methods.
>>>>
>>>>             >/* 35 A /*>* 10 A=B
>>>>             *>* 30 B>C  (sincere B > A)
>>>>             *>* 25 C
>>>>             *>>* C>A  55-45,     A>B  35-30 (10A=B not counted),   B>C 40-25.
>>>>
>>>>             *A wins with sincere voting. When B defects to try to win, which it
>>>>             would do with most other Condorcet methods, B wins. With PMR, C wins,
>>>>             an undesirable outcome for B.
>>>>
>>>>             Here is another example from Rob LeGrand
>>>>             (https://www.cs.angelo.edu/~rlegrand/rbvote/calc.html). It's not a
>>>>             good example for chicken dilemma resistance, but it does demonstrate
>>>>             differences from Schulze, MMPO, RP and Bucklin:
>>>>
>>>>             # example from method description page
>>>>               98:Abby>Cora>Erin>Dave>Brad
>>>>               64:Brad>Abby>Erin>Cora>Dave
>>>>               12:Brad>Abby>Erin>Dave>Cora
>>>>               98:Brad>Erin>Abby>Cora>Dave
>>>>               13:Brad>Erin>Abby>Dave>Cora
>>>>             125:Brad>Erin>Dave>Abby>Cora
>>>>             124:Cora>Abby>Erin>Dave>Brad
>>>>               76:Cora>Erin>Abby>Dave>Brad
>>>>               21:Dave>Abby>Brad>Erin>Cora
>>>>               30:Dave>Brad>Abby>Erin>Cora
>>>>               98:Dave>Brad>Erin>Cora>Abby
>>>>             139:Dave>Cora>Abby>Brad>Erin
>>>>               23:Dave>Cora>Brad>Abby>Erin
>>>>
>>>>             The pairwise matrix:
>>>>
>>>>             against
>>>>             Abby Brad Cora Dave Erin
>>>>             for Abby  458 461 485 511
>>>>             Brad 463  461 312 623
>>>>             Cora 460 460  460 460
>>>>             Dave 436 609 461  311
>>>>             Erin 410 298 461 610
>>>>
>>>>             There is no Condorcet winner.  The Smith set is {Abby, Brad, Dave, Erin}.
>>>>
>>>>             Abby wins with Schulze, MMPO, while Brad wins with Ranked Pairs, Erin
>>>>             wins with Bucklin.
>>>>
>>>>             In PMR, with a threshold of 3rd place, Abby, Brad, and Erin all pass
>>>>             the threshold. Brad defeats Abby and Erin to win. But Brad's threshold
>>>>             score of 484 is only slightly over the 50% mark of 460.5, so the Dave
>>>>             voters hold the balance of power. Dave defeats Brad pairwise, so Dave
>>>>             voters might not be as happy with a Brad victory, and Abby might be
>>>>             able to persuade Dave voters to downrank Brad but not Abby. If
>>>>             successful, Brad drops 44 points in MRScore and is no longer in the MR
>>>>             threshold set. Abby defeats Erin, so Abby wins.
>>>>
>>>>             * 21:Dave>Abby>>Brad>Erin>Cora (Brad -> 4th place)*
>>>>               30:Dave>Brad>Abby>Erin>Cora
>>>>               98:Dave>Brad>Erin>Cora>Abby
>>>>             139:Dave>Cora>Abby>Brad>Erin
>>>>             * 23:Dave>Cora>>Brad>Abby>Erin (Brad -> 4th place)*
>>>>
>>>>             PMR passes Condorcet Winner, Condorcet Loser, IIB, and is cloneproof.
>>>>             I believe it passes LNHelp. It probably fails Participation and IIA.
>>>>             There are probably weird examples where changing one vote changes the
>>>>             MR threshold. But overall, I think it has a good balance of incentive
>>>>             to deter burial and deliberate cycles.
>>>>
>>>>             Has Smith//Median Rating been proposed before? It seems like a simple
>>>>             modification to MR on its own.
>>>
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>>>
>     ----
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