Glossary

benchmark

A suite of multiple election simulations for a specific voter model, in which particular parameters are varied.

voting system

An voting method such as plurality, instant-runoff-voting, scored voting, or otherwise.

plurality ratio

The ratio of a plurality winner’s honest votes over the total votes cast in the election.

plurality winner ratio

See plurality ratio.

Condorcet winner

The candidate which conforms to the Condorcet Criterion

majority winner

The candidate who recieves greater than 50% of 1st choice votes.

plurality winner

The candidate who recieves the most honest 1st choice votes.

utility winner

The candidate that maximizes the average utiltiy of the voter population.

C scenario

An election scenario in which the Condorcet winner is not the utility winner.

CPU scenario

An election scenario in which a Condorcet-plurality-utility winner is found; where the the Condorcet/plurality/utility winner are coincidental.

CU scenario

An election scenario in which the utility winner is also the Condorcet winner.

CP scenario

An election scenario in which the plurality winner is also the Condorcet winner. However, the Condorcet-plurality winner is not the utility winner.

MU scenario

An election scenario in which a majority winner exists and is also the utility winner.

M scenario

An election scenario in which a majority winner exists but is not the utility winner.

nc scenario

An election scenario with a Condorcet cycle. In other words No Condorcet winner is found.

Voter Satisfaction Efficiency (VSE)

Measure of voter average utility in which at 100% VSE, the candidate that maximizes utility is elected. At less than 0% VSE, a candidate with utility worse than the average candidate is selected. This metric was proposed by Jameson Quinn.

Voter Regret (VR)

Measure of voter utility proposed by John Huang. At 0% voter regret, the candidate that maximizes voter utility is elected. When VR is greater than 100%, a candidate is elected whose regret exceeds the difference between electing a candidate with preferences of a random, average voter and an ideal candidate located in the median centroid of the voter population.

voter tolerance

The maximum difference in utility between the voter and the candidate in which the voter will reward the candidate with a rating greater than zero. At utility differences greater than the voter tolerance, candidates recieve zero score or recieve no ranking.