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Why one would accept Voting Theory for Democracy and reject the Penrose Square Root Weights

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  • Colignatus, Thomas

Abstract

Various scientists under the label of “Scientists for a democratic Europe” (SDE) sent a joint “Letter to the governments of the EU member states” (2007) advising the use of the Penrose Square Root Weights (PSRW) for the EU Council of Ministers. When we compare the SDE letter with Colignatus (2001, 2007b) “Voting theory for democracy” (VTFD) then we find that SDE does not fit voting theory for democracy. Inspection of the material upon which the SDE letter is based also shows a moral choice while the rigorous empirical analysis by Gelman, Katz and Bafumi (2007) is actually misrepresented. So the SDE letter can also be rejected on its own grounds. The PSRW approach seems not valid for (indivisible) individuals but may be applicable for divisible shares in shareholder meetings.

Suggested Citation

  • Colignatus, Thomas, 2007. "Why one would accept Voting Theory for Democracy and reject the Penrose Square Root Weights," MPRA Paper 3885, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Jul 2007.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:3885
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colignatus, Thomas, 2007. "In a democracy, Bayrou would have won. Application of the Borda Fixed Point method to the 2007 French presidential elections," MPRA Paper 3170, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Thomas Colignatus, 2005. "Announcement of availability: "Definition & Reality in the General Theory of Political Economy" 2nd edition 2005," General Economics and Teaching 0502072, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Leech, Dennis, 2002. "Designing the Voting System for the Council of the European Union," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 113(3-4), pages 437-464, December.
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    1. Colignatus, Thomas, 2010. "Single vote multiple seats elections. Didactics of district versus proportional representation, using the examples of the United Kingdom and The Netherlands," MPRA Paper 22671, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Jul 2007.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    voting theory; voting systems; elections; public choice; political economy; Borda Fixed Point; democracy; European Union; Penrose square root weights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • H0 - Public Economics - - General

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