Arrow's impossibility theorem

In voting systems, Arrow’s impossibility theorem, or Arrow’s paradox, demonstrates that no voting system meets all of a certain set of criteria when there are three or more choices. These criteria are called unrestricted domain, non-imposition, non-dictatorship, monotonicity, and independence of irrelevant alternatives, and are defined below.

Related Topics:
Voting system - Monotonicity - Independence of irrelevant alternatives

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The theorem is named after economist Kenneth Arrow, who proved the theorem in his Ph.D. thesis and popularized it in his 1951 book Social Choice and Individual Values.

Related Topics:
Kenneth Arrow - Ph.D. - 1951

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The original paper was entitled "A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare" and can be found in The Journal of Political Economy, Volume 58, Issue 4 (August, 1950), pages 328-346.

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Arrow was a co-recipient of the 1972 Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (popularly known as the “Nobel Prize in Economics”).

Related Topics:
1972 - Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

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