A Note on “An Axiomatic Model of Voting Bodies”

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Abstract
Brams and O'Leary (this Review, 64 [June 1970], pp. 449–470) generate a model of the behavior of a voting body by first applying a simple combinatorial argument to the results of voting on a single issue and then extending this model by assuming voting behavior is independent across issues. In this note we show that their argument can be extended to cover voting across issues without relying on the assumption of independence. This alternative approach gives insight into the Brams and O'Leary model and strengthens their results by making several of their indices exact instead of approximate. Thus if the modification proposed in this note is used, the indices proposed by Brains and O'Leary can be used empirically without worrying about independence.

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