The Mathematics of Democracy: From Electoral Rules to Voting Power

"The Mathematics of Democracy" explores the fundamental importance of electoral rules and voting power in shaping policy. It emphasizes how seemingly technical aspects of voting procedures have a crucial impact on election outcomes, the composition of governments, and the direction of public policy. It introduces social choice theory, analyzing different electoral systems—majoritarian, proportional, and mixed—and their consequences. It also discusses mathematical constraints on democracy, such as Arrow's theorem and the Condorcet paradox, which reveal the inherent instabilities of voting systems. The text emphasizes the need for informed rule design and civic education to understand and navigate the complexities of democratic mechanisms.