Condorcet paradox

Uncommon card · No. 198314

In social choice theory, Condorcet's voting paradox (also called Condorcet's paradox or the Condorcet paradox) is a fundamental discovery by the Marquis de Condorcet that majority rule can be self-contradictory as majority preferences can become intransitive with three or more options. For example, there can be rock-paper-scissors scenarios where a majority of voters will prefer A to B, B to C, and also C to A, even if every voter's individual preferences are rational and avoid self-contradiction. Examples of Condorcet's paradox are called Condorcet cycles or cyclic ties. In such a cycle, every possible choice is rejected by the electorate in favor of another alternative, who is preferred by more than half of all voters. Thus, any attempt to ground social decision-making in majoritarianism must accept such self-contradictions (commonly called spoiler effects). Systems that attempt to do so, while minimizing the rate of such self-contradictions, are called Condorcet methods. Condorcet's...

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