Fair and reasonable election systems

Abstract

A major problem in social choice theory has been to determine “fair” and “reasonable” criteria for election systems. Important advances in the field have been made by May (1952), Fishburn, and Young (1973), who have been able to characterize certain election systems through such criteria. Arrow (1963), on the other hand, has demonstrated an inconsistent set of criteria for decision systems. This paper explores some fair and reasonable conditions for decision systems, and, in the case of three alternatives, provides a provides a characterization.