Voting Methods and Criteria

The video explores various voting methods and their fairness in elections. It introduces fairness criteria such as the majority, Condorcet, monotonicity, and independence of irrelevant alternatives. The video discusses how these criteria can be violated under different voting methods, using examples and preference schedules to illustrate these violations. The video concludes with an example of how the plurality with elimination method can violate the monotonicity criterion.

What is a potential issue with the plurality method in elections?

• It is too complex to understand.

• It requires a runoff election.

• It may not select the candidate preferred by the majority.

• It always results in a tie.

What does Arrow's Impossibility Theorem suggest about voting methods?

• They are all equally unfair.

• They can always satisfy all fairness criteria.

• No method can satisfy all reasonable assumptions about voter preferences.

• They are all equally fair.

According to the Majority Criterion, when should a candidate be declared the winner?

• When they have the most second-place votes.

• When they have more than half of the total votes.

• When they are the least disliked candidate.

• When they have the most third-place votes.

What is a Condorcet candidate?

• A candidate who wins all pairwise comparisons.

• A candidate who ties with another candidate.

• A candidate who is ranked last by the majority.

• A candidate who wins the most first-place votes.

What does the Monotonicity Criterion state?

• A candidate should still win if they are ranked higher on some ballots.

• A candidate should win if they are ranked lower.

• A candidate should win if they are ranked last.

• A candidate should lose if they are ranked higher.

What does the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) Criterion imply?

• A candidate should win if they are ranked last.

• A candidate should win if a new candidate enters the race.

• A candidate should still win if a losing candidate drops out.

• A candidate should lose if a new candidate enters the race.

How does the Borda Count method potentially violate the Majority Criterion?

• By being too complex to calculate.

• By always selecting the candidate with the fewest votes.

• By selecting a candidate who does not have the majority of first-place votes.

• By requiring a runoff election.

In the Plurality with Elimination method, what can happen if a candidate is ranked higher on some ballots?

• They will always lose.

• They may no longer be the winner.

• They will always win.

• They will tie with another candidate.

What should students be familiar with to understand possible violations in voting methods?

• The biographies of candidates.

• The number of votes each candidate received.

• The table of possible violations.

• The history of voting methods.