Defeat strength: Difference between revisions

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[[Condorcet methods]] require the resolution of [[Condorcet cycle|cycles]]. Typically, this is done by ignoring "weak" pairwise defeats in favor of "strong" ones. The metric used to distinguish these is called '''defeat strength'''.
[[Condorcet methods]] require the resolution of [[Condorcet cycle|cycles]]. Typically, this is done by ignoring "weak" pairwise defeats in favor of "strong" ones. The metric used to distinguish these is called '''defeat strength'''.


Most election experts agree that either winning votes or margins (see below) are the best ways to measure defeat strength, with the consensus generally leaning in favor of winning votes.
Most election experts agree that, out of the standard ways to measure defeat strength, winning votes are the best, with margins in second.


== List of measures ==
The most common measures of defeat strength for a pairwise winner W over a pairwise loser L include:


=== Standard ===
* '''winning votes''': Defeat strength = votes for W>L
* '''margins''': Defeat strength = (votes for W>L) - (votes for L>W)
* '''winning votes (wv)''' = % of votes for W>L
* '''relative margins''': Defeat strength = margin ÷ (votes for W≠L)
* '''margins''' = (% of votes for W>L) - (% of votes for L>W)
** Gives more strategic incentive than wv and seems more arbitrary (why not relative margin instead?)
* '''pairwise opposition''': Defeat strength = 100% - % of votes for L>W
** Violates [[plurality criterion]]
* '''Relative margins''': Defeat strength = margin ÷ (votes for W≠L)


=== Cardinal ===
Less common measures:


* '''Approval-based support''' = ''no. of voters approving of the winner but not of the loser of the defeat.'' Gives special influence to preferences which cross the approval cutoff and thus helps diminish certain strategies. Useful when one assumes that only these voters will support the corresponding "majority complaint"
====== Approval opposition ======
* '''Cardinal rated''' strength = ''sum of difference in the candidates' cardinal ratings on all ballots which rate the winner over the loser of the defeat.'' Even more strategy-resistant than wv, but involves interpersonal comparisons of cardinal ratings.
'''Approval opposition''' or '''AO''' is a measure of defeat strength for [[Condorcet method|Condorcet methods]]. It is equivalent to using [[Cardinal pairwise|approval-weighted pairwise]].
* '''Winning approval''' = ''approval score of the winner of the defeat.'' Using this as defeat strength leaves only one immune candidate: the least approved of those who beat all more approved ones. Similar for other scores.

== Kinds of defeats ==

* (Pairwise) '''defeat''' <=> ''more voters expressed to prefer A over B than expressed to prefer B over A''
* '''Majority-strength defeat''' = ''pairwise defeat which has a wv-strength of more than half the no. of voters.'' Using only such defeats can reduce incentive to truncate by reducing the likelihood that additional preferences will harm earlier ones. Voters adding a preference can create a majority-strength win, but they can't reverse the direction of one.


See [[Techniques of method design#Defeats and defeat strength]] for more information.
[[Category:Voting theory metrics]]
[[Category:Voting theory metrics]]
[[Category:Condorcet-related concepts]]
[[Category:Condorcet-related concepts]]