Complexity theory applied to voting theory

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Don Saari, University of California, Irvine
Fine Hall 214

As it will be shown with results and examples, the paradoxes associated with standard voting rules are surprisingly likely and are so complex that one must worry about the legitimacy of election outcomes. To extract an understanding of what can happen and why, it is shown how lessons from complexity theory, where complicated behavior is due to a combination of simple interactions, explain many mysteries both in this area and for related topics such as nonparametric statistics, etc. Indeed, all paradoxes of standard rules, including Arrow's seminal "Impossibility Theorem," reflect simple but hidden symmetry structures connecting the preferences of voters.