Condorcet method
Definition
The Condorcet method is a voting system used to identify the candidate that would win a head-to-head competition against each of the other candidates. The candidate who wins all these comparisons, if such a candidate exists, is called the Condorcet winner.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
- The Condorcet method is named after the 18th-century French mathematician Marquis de Condorcet.
- A Condorcet winner may not always exist in every election; this occurs when preferences are cyclical.
- The method requires voters to rank all candidates in order of preference.
- If there is no Condorcet winner, other methods like the Smith set or Schulze method can be used to determine the winner.
- It satisfies the majority criterion, meaning if a candidate is preferred by more than half of voters over every other candidate, that candidate will win.
Review Questions
- What happens if no candidate wins all head-to-head matchups in the Condorcet method?
- How are voter preferences expressed in the Condorcet method?
- Why might there be no clear Condorcet winner in an election?
"Condorcet method" appears in:
Related terms
Majority Criterion: A principle stating that if one candidate is preferred by a majority over every other candidate, they should win.
Schulze Method: An electoral system that selects a single winner using pairwise comparisons and can handle cycles.
Smith Set: The smallest group of candidates such that each member of the group beats every candidate outside the group in head-to-head comparisons.
