1,063 research outputs found
Condorcet Domains, Median Graphs and the Single Crossing Property
Condorcet domains are sets of linear orders with the property that, whenever
the preferences of all voters belong to this set, the majority relation has no
cycles. We observe that, without loss of generality, such domain can be assumed
to be closed in the sense that it contains the majority relation of every
profile with an odd number of individuals whose preferences belong to this
domain.
We show that every closed Condorcet domain is naturally endowed with the
structure of a median graph and that, conversely, every median graph is
associated with a closed Condorcet domain (which may not be a unique one). The
subclass of those Condorcet domains that correspond to linear graphs (chains)
are exactly the preference domains with the classical single crossing property.
As a corollary, we obtain that the domains with the so-called `representative
voter property' (with the exception of a 4-cycle) are the single crossing
domains.
Maximality of a Condorcet domain imposes additional restrictions on the
underlying median graph. We prove that among all trees only the chains can
induce maximal Condorcet domains, and we characterize the single crossing
domains that in fact do correspond to maximal Condorcet domains.
Finally, using Nehring's and Puppe's (2007) characterization of monotone
Arrowian aggregation, our analysis yields a rich class of strategy-proof social
choice functions on any closed Condorcet domain
Optimal redistricting under geographical constraints: Why "pack and crack" does not work
We show that optimal partisan redistricting with geographical constraints is a computationally intractable (NP-complete) problem. In particular, even when voter's preferences are deterministic, a solution is generally not obtained by concentrating opponent's supporters in \unwinnable" districts ("packing") and spreading
one's own supporters evenly among the other districts in order to produce many slight marginal wins ("cracking")
Freeness of equivariant cohomology and mutants of compactified representations
We survey generalisations of the Chang-Skjelbred Lemma for integral
coefficients. Moreover, we construct examples of manifolds with actions of tori
of rank > 2 whose equivariant cohomology is torsion-free, but not free. This
answers a question of Allday's. The "mutants" we construct are obtained from
compactified representations and involve Hopf bundles in a crucial way.Comment: 11 pages; more details on the smooth structure of the mutants; other,
minor change
Axiomatic Districting
In a framework with two parties, deterministic voter preferences and a type of geographical constraints, we propose a set of simple axioms and show that they jointly characterize the districting rule that maximizes the number of districts one party can win, given the distribution of individual votes (the \optimal gerrymandering rule"). As a corollary, we obtain that no districting rule can satisfy our axioms and treat parties symmetrically
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