Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Plain Talk On Preferences, Lester G. Telser

Lester G Telser

Assume the preferences of each individual are transitive but preferences for the same alternatives differ among some individuals. Condorcet (1785) showed that choices made by majority voting are not always transitive. Therefore,the choice among alternatives made by a group will not coincide with the preferences of any individual in the group. This is also Arrow's conclusion. Drop the assumption that all individuals have transitive preferences and the paradox loses much of its force. How groups resolve the perennial conflict between liberty and consensus remains unsolved by majority voting.