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ABSTRACT

I usually shun clichés like the plague, but could not resist this oft-quoted slogan that sums up what I like to call Psephological Cynicism. Psephology is the huge and growing branch of mathematics (with frequent distractions from sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, and allied layabouts) that studies the structure and effectiveness of polling and electoral strategies. Related domains include probability and games theory, although, as well see, the subject has many far-from-playful implications. Indeed, there are depressing but valid proofs that no voting system fully guarantees "fair play." Such non-existence theorems are common in most fields of mathematics: Gödel's on the consistency proofs for certain arithmetical axioms, and Turings Halting Problem.

REFERENCES

• 1: 1. Yet another abbreviational overload for PC, alas, although on this occasion the "P" is silent as in bucket.
• 2: 2. Briefly: there's no general method of deciding whether an arbitrary program will terminate or not. Some have suggested Gates's counter-example: termination (as in crash) is assured if the program runs under Windows.
• 3: 3. Quoted in Hoffman, P. Archimedes' Revenge--The Joys and Perils of Mathematics," Fawcett Crest, New York: NY, 1988. See chapter 12, "Is Democracy Mathematically Unsound?"
• 4: 4. The 1876 presidential election was even closer; an exact dead heat, in fact, at the Electoral College.
• 5: 5. I support the effort to reestablish positive words that have lost ground to their peccable antonyms. My shevelled fans will surely be dainful.
• 6: 6. Saari, Donald G. Geometry of chaotic and stable discussions. The American Mathematical Monthly III, 5 (May 2004).
• 7: 7. Grimmett, G. Stochastic apportionment. The American Mathematical Monthly III, 5 (April 2004).

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.4 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
      Subjects: Sociology