Collective Choices
Friday, May 26, 2017

Rida Laraki

University Paris-Dauphine, PSL Research University

Rida Laraki

Majority Judgment: Measuring Ranking and Electing

Abstract

Majority Judgment is a new voting method where voters are explicitly charged with a solemn task of expressing their opinions precisely by evaluating the merit of every candidate in an ordinal scale of measurement such as:  « Having taken into account all relevant considerations, I judge, in conscience, that as President of the United States of America each of the following candidates would be: a Great , a Good , an Average , a Poor , a Terrible  President.» Majorities determine the electorate's evaluation of each candidate and the ranking between every pair of candidates —necessarily transitive— with the first-placed among them the winner. Majority judgement’s principal properties are presented. It best resists manipulation or “gaming the vote”. It is not subject to Arrow’s impossibility, nor to Condorcet’s paradox. The mechanism and its properties are presented via true recent data (French and US presidential elections, committee decisions, skating and wine competitions).