Group Decision-Making - Majority Rule and the Paradox of Voting

Author: Hu Yuda
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: You may have participated in elections for class cadres, village cadres, or representatives of the people. Many of you might have also taken part in activities like selecting outstanding movies or top athletes. The purpose of these activities is to gather the choices of numerous voters regarding the strengths, preferences, or importance of the candidates, ultimately arriving at a final selection result. As everyone knows, the "majority rule" based on the principle of "the minority submits to the majority" is a fundamental rule widely adopted in various selection processes. However, when there are at least three voters and candidates, applying the majority rule can sometimes lead to a "voting paradox," where the rankings of candidates form a cycle. This is known as the "voting paradox" of the majority rule. In such cases, no selection result can be determined. Therefore, the majority rule, which is well-known and widely used, is not something that can be adopted arbitrarily! And how to avoid the occurrence of the "voting paradox" when using the majority rule has become a particularly important and research-worthy issue in group decision-making. This book will introduce readers to the basic knowledge and theories of group decision-making, with a focus on practical methods of the widely applicable majority rule. Particularly, to enable readers to use the majority rule correctly and effectively to handle real-world problems, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the conditions under which the majority rule can be confidently used without the risk of a "voting paradox."