Modern social choice theory, following Kenneth Arrow, treats voting as a method for aggregating diverse preferences and values. An earlier view, initiated by Marquis de Condorcet, is that voting is a method for aggregating information. Voters' opinions differ because they make errors of judgment; absent these errors they would all agree on the best choice. The goal is to design a voting rule that identifies the best choice with highest probability. This paper examines maximum likelihood estimation. Surprisingly, the optimal rule can also be axiomatized by variations of Arrow's axioms. Copyright 1995 by American Economic Association.
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Schmitz, Patrick W. & Tröger, Thomas, 2006.
"Garbled Elections,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
5958, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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Patrick W. Schmitz & Thomas Tröger, 2006.
"Garbled Elections,"
Discussion Papers
195, SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
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