The intent of elections in a democratic society is normally to reflect the choice of a majority of the voting public. However, as is brilliantly shown by the author of this fascinating book, the reality of the matter can be far different and surprisingly complicated.
This is a wonderful, historical look at voting systems. While voting might appear to be straightforward (we do it all the time), there are great difficulties in defining what the right winner is when there are more than two candidates.
In the United States, we now and then debate the merits of the Electoral College, but few people in this country pay attention to how the 435 congressional seats are apportioned to the 50 states after each decennial census. George Szpiro takes up this topic and other election-related problems in "Numbers Rule.
Forse avete sentito parlare del teorema di Arrow, che dimostra matematicamente come - se vogliamo scegliere dei rappresentanti secondo un certo numero di regole assolutamente sensate - l'unica opzione possibile e avere un dittatore. Magari avete anche sentito parlare del paradosso dell'Alabama: suddividendo per stato in modo proporzionale i rappresentanti degli stati USA al Congresso e aumentando il numero di rappresentanti totali, era possibile che uno stato perdesse un seggio.
[As always, I dont review books here that I read for work, except when I do. This is one of those exceptions.
