Mathematical Digest
Short Summaries of Articles about Mathematics
in the Popular Press
"The Fairest Vote of All," by Partha Dasgupta and Eric Maskin, Scientific American, March 2004
The authors present the various systems used to elect student councils tonational leaders; give examples of problems and perplexing election results inthe 2000 U.S. and 2002 France presidential elections; explain how "truemajority rule and rank-order voting result in dramatically different outcomes;"and propose changes that would more accurately represent voters' wishes.
--- Annette Emerson
