Mathematics and Democracy: Designing Better Voting and Fair-Division Procedures

Steven J. Brams

ISBN 10: 0691133212 / ISBN 13: 9780691133218

Verlag: Princeton University Press, 2008

Beschreibung

Voters often desert a preferred candidate for a more viable second choice to avoid wasting their vote. Likewise, parties to a dispute often find themselves unable to agree on a fair division of contested goods. This book shows how social-choice and game theory could make political and social institutions more democratic. Num Pages: 392 pages, 2 line illus. 19 tables. BIC Classification: JPHF; PBUD. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 234 x 156 x 27. Weight in Grams: 554. . 2007. First Edition. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers V9780691133218

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Mathematics and Democracy: Designing Better ...

Verlag: Princeton University Press

Erscheinungsdatum: 2008

Einband: Softcover

Zustand: New

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe:

Voters today often desert a preferred candidate for a more viable second choice to avoid wasting their vote. Likewise, parties to a dispute often find themselves unable to agree on a fair division of contested goods. In Mathematics and Democracy, Steven Brams, a leading authority in the use of mathematics to design decision-making processes, shows how social-choice and game theory could make political and social institutions more democratic. Using mathematical analysis, he develops rigorous new procedures that enable voters to better express themselves and that allow disputants to divide goods more fairly.


One of the procedures that Brams proposes is "approval voting," which allows voters to vote for as many candidates as they like or consider acceptable. There is no ranking, and the candidate with the most votes wins. The voter no longer has to consider whether a vote for a preferred but less popular candidate might be wasted. In the same vein, Brams puts forward new, more equitable procedures for resolving disputes over divisible and indivisible goods.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor:

Steven J. Brams is professor of politics at New York University. He is the author of "Theory of Move"s, among many other books, and the coauthor of "The Win-Win Solution: Guaranteeing Fair Shares to Everybody" and "Fair Division: From Cake-Cutting to Dispute Resolution".