74,623 research outputs found

    Voting and the Cardinal Aggregation of Judgments

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    The paper elaborates the idea that voting is an instance of the aggregation of judgments, this being a more general concept than the aggregation of preferences. To aggregate judgments one must first measure them. I show that such aggregation has been unproblematic whenever it has been based on an independent and unrestricted scale. The scales analyzed in voting theory are either context dependent or subject to unreasonable restrictions. This is the real source of the diverse 'paradoxes of voting' that would better be termed 'voting pathologies'. The theory leads me to advocate what I term evaluative voting. It can also be called utilitarian voting as it is based on having voters express their cardinal preferences. The alternative that maximizes the sum wins. This proposal operationalizes, in an election context, the abstract cardinal theories of collective choice due to Fleming and Harsanyi. On pragmatic grounds, I argue for a three valued scale for general elections

    “Democracy in the European Union.” CEPS Working Document No. 286, February 2008

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    In this Working Document, Stefano Micossi, Director General of Assonime, argues that once the Union is recognised for what it is – an innovative polity, where power is shared by a large number of players with many participation and influence-wielding mechanisms, – it becomes apparent that on the whole it complies with democratic legitimisation standards no less than do member states, even if multiple, and potentially conflicting legitimisation channels and principles may confuse observers

    Voting and the Cardinal Aggregation of Judgments

    Get PDF
    The paper elaborates the idea that voting is an instance of the aggregation of judgments, this being a more general concept than the aggregation of preferences. To aggregate judgments one must first measure them. I show that such aggregation has been unproblematic whenever it has been based on an independent and unrestricted scale. The scales analyzed in voting theory are either context dependent or subject to unreasonable restrictions. This is the real source of the diverse 'paradoxes of voting' that would better be termed 'voting pathologies'. The theory leads me to advocate what I term evaluative voting. It can also be called utilitarian voting as it is based on having voters express their cardinal preferences. The alternative that maximizes the sum wins. This proposal operationalizes, in an election context, the abstract cardinal theories of collective choice due to Fleming and Harsanyi. On pragmatic grounds, I argue for a three valued scale for general elections.approval voting; cardinal utility; instant runoff voting; plurality voting; voting paradoxes

    E-Democracy and Knowledge. A Multicriteria Framework for the New Democratic Era

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    This paper analyses a new framework for decision-making in e-democracies that exploits the power of Internet based public knowledge, which is called briefly e-cognocracy. This is not a procedure to improve technical aspects using the Internet (e.g. e-voting); it is rather a procedure to add a new quality to the democratic system by using the network. This proposed system of e-cognocracy would allow those who are interested to solve highly complex problems by participatory decision-making. Furthermore, we suggest the multicriteria framework for the modelling and resolution of such complex problems. Similarly, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach, we propose decisional (analytic and informatic) tools for searching the knowledge - relevant for the decision-making process. This knowledge of patterns of behaviour, trends, opportunities, decisions and stylised facts will be the starting point of a consensus-reaching process, which is aimed to effectively solve problems of high complexity of the Internet society.E-democracy, Knowledge society, E-cognocracy, Multicriteria, AHP criterion, Consensus

    Political Involvement and Memory Failure as Interdependent Determinants of Vote Overreporting

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    Survey respondents have been found to systematically overreport their participation in political elections. Although the sociodemographic correlates of this response bias are well known, only a few studies have analyzed the determinants predicted by two prominent theoretical explanations for vote overreporting: memory failure and social desirability bias. Both explanations have received empirical support in studies in which the probability of vote overreporting was found to increase (a) with the time between the election and the survey interview and (b) when respondents were more politically involved. In the present paper, we argue that the effect of each of these determinants is not simply additive, but depends on the value of the respective other factor. This interaction effect has been found with data from the American National Election Studies: The probability of vote overreporting increases significantly stronger with the respondents’ political involvement when more time has elapsed since the election day.

    State Control of Interstate Air Pollution

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    Global warming is an unequivocal fact proved by the persistent rise of the average temperature of the earth. IPCC reported that scientists were more than 90 % certain that most of the global warming was caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) produced by human activities. One alternative to combat the GHG is to explore technologies for utilizing CO2 already generated by current energy systems and develop methods to convert CO2 into useful combustible gases. Two-step conversion of CO2 with catalysts is one of the most promising methods. Ceria (CeO2) is chosen as the main catalyst for this conversion in the thesis. It releases O2 when it is reduced in a heating process, and then absorbs O2 from CO2 to produce CO when it is re-oxidized in a cooling process. To make the conversion economic, solar power is employed to drive the conversion system. In this thesis, a flexible system with fluidized bed reactors (FBRs) is introduced. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was carried out to examine the performance of ceria during its reduction and oxidation. Subsequently, the exergy analysis was used to evaluate the system’s capability on exporting work. The theoretical fuel to chemical efficiency varied from 4.85 % to 43.2 % for CO2 conversions. To investigate the operation mechanism of the system, a mathematical model was built up for the dynamic simulation of the system. Variables such as temperatures and efficiencies were calculated and recorded for different cases. The optimum working condition was found out to be at 1300 ⁰C for the commercial type of ceria. Finally, an experimental system was set up. The hydrodynamics and heat transfer in the fluidized bed reactor were studied. A CFD model was built up and validated with the experimental trials around 120 ⁰C. The model was then used as a reliable tool for the optimization of the reactor. The entire work in the thesis follows the procedure of developing an engineering system. It forms a solid basis for further improvements of the system to recycle CO2.QC 20141006</p

    Stock ownership and political behavior: evidence from demutualizations

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    A natural experiment in which customer-owned mutual companies converted to publicly listed firms created a plausibly exogenous shock to the stock market participation status of tens of thousands of people. We find the shock changed the way people vote in the affected areas, with a 10% increase in share-ownership rate being followed by a 1.3%–3.1% increase in right-of-center vote share. The institutional details and additional tests suggest that wealth, liquidity, and tax-related incentives cannot fully explain the results. A plausible explanation is that the associated increase in the salience of stock ownership causes a shift in voters’ attention

    How efficient is Joint Decision-Making in the EU? Environmental Policies and the Co-Decision Procedure

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    This paper is a first step towards the analysis of the joint decision-making mode of governance in the EU. It argues that such a mode of governance enhances policy effectiveness in the field of environmental policy. This is mainly due to the as yet neglected phenomenon of the interaction between representative institutions at different levels in the European Union that characterises joint decision-making. The European Parliament, as a co-legislator with veto power in the co-decision procedure, has been a crucial organisational actor. Its interactions with other actors such as national parliaments and the Council of Ministers and the European Commission are particular relevant in the building-up of more appropriate and legitimate incentives for the correct implementation of common policies, internalising many externalities. It has also allowed for a more active role of EU national parliaments in the EU legislative process, increasing their leverage vis-Ă -vis their respective governments as far as European legislation is concerned.European governance; co-decision; policy effectiveness; informal institutions; sustainable development
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