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Generalized majority rules: utilitarian welfare in large but finite populations

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Faravelli

    (University of Queensland)

  • Priscilla Man

    (University of Queensland)

Abstract

Generalized majority rules are electoral rules in which an alternative needs to obtain a fixed percentage (not necessarily 50%) of all votes in order to win. While Krishna and Morgan (Am Econ J Microeconom 7:339–375, 2015) demonstrate that simple majority maximizes expected utilitarian welfare for limiting populations regardless of the prior support for the alternatives, this paper finds that, when the prior support is known, a continuum of voting rules also achieves the same welfare. Moreover, as the population approaches the limit, every voting rule eventually becomes welfare inferior to picking the ex-ante majority without an election. Examining the properties of these optimal rules allows us to generalize the relationship between voter participation and welfare beyond the symmetric case.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Faravelli & Priscilla Man, 2021. "Generalized majority rules: utilitarian welfare in large but finite populations," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 72(1), pages 21-48, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:72:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s00199-020-01285-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-020-01285-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mahajan, Aseem & Pongou, Roland & Tondji, Jean-Baptiste, 2023. "Supermajority politics: Equilibrium range, policy diversity, utilitarian welfare, and political compromise," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(2), pages 963-974.
    2. Felipe R. Durazzo & David Turchick, 2023. "Welfare-improving misreported polls," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 75(2), pages 523-565, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Supermajority; Qualified majority; Costly voting; Voter turnout; Compulsory voting; Poisson game;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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