====================================================================== SOURCE FILE: minimax_ex33_scc.yaml TABULATED FILE: minimax_ex33_scc_tabulated.txt ====================================================================== election_title: "Minimax Ex.33 — SCC: drop a loser and the winner changes" scenario_description: |- Felsenthal's Minimax subset-choice-condition example — the spoiler failure. Source: Dan S. Felsenthal (2010), Appendix A10, Example 33, adapted from P.C. Fishburn, "Paradoxes of Voting", American Political Science Review 68 (1974: 540). Seven voters, four candidates: 3×(D>C>B>A), 2×(A>D>C>B), 2×(B>A>D>C). The social ordering cycles (A>D>C>B>A), so Minimax reaches for its second clause: worst pairwise losses are A 5, B 5, C 7, D 4, and D is elected on the smallest. Now let B — who cannot win, and does not — leave the race before the vote. On the same ballots minus B, A is ranked first by 4 of 7, an absolute majority, and wins outright. Removing a LOSER changed the winner from D to A: the subset choice condition (SCC) failure, the formal version of what campaigns call a spoiler. Reproduce the second count with: minimax_report.py --drop B, which recomputes every pairwise from the same ballots. At 4 candidates and 7 voters this is close to minimal — Brandt, Matthäus & Saile (2022) show a 3-candidate, 7-voter instance exists, so this one carries a single extra candidate. Labels are Felsenthal's own A/B/C/D so the case can be read side by side with the paper's table. Tabulated here as Ranked Robin for the pairwise matrix Minimax reads; Ranked Robin also lands on D, by a different route — Copeland ties A and D at 2 wins each and the margin tiebreak separates them. paradoxes: [spoiler-scc, condorcet-cycle] voting_method: RankedRobin num_winners: 1 ballots: |- 3:D>C>B>A 2:A>D>C>B 2:B>A>D>C expected_winners: - D # file: minimax_ex33_scc.yaml ====================================================================== TABULATION RESULTS ====================================================================== --- Ranked Robin (RCV-RR / Copeland) Method (single winner) --- Tabulating 7 ballots (ranked ballots). Ballots: 3 × D > C > B > A 2 × A > D > C > B 2 × B > A > D > C Round-Robin — every pair, head-to-head (For – Against): D beats C 7 – 0 D beats B 5 – 2 A beats D 4 – 3 C beats B 5 – 2 A beats C 4 – 3 B beats A 5 – 2 --- Pairwise (Round-Robin) Matrix --- Head-to-head / pairwise comparison — the Ranked Robin tally Legend: For - Equal Support - Against (row vs column) | D | C | B | A | ---------------------------------------------------- D > | --- |7 - 0 - 0 |5 - 0 - 2 |3 - 0 - 4 | C > | 0 - 0 - 7 | --- |5 - 0 - 2 |3 - 0 - 4 | B > | 2 - 0 - 5 |2 - 0 - 5 | --- |5 - 0 - 2 | A > | 4 - 0 - 3 |4 - 0 - 3 |2 - 0 - 5 | --- | Win–loss record — Copeland score = wins + ½·ties (highest score wins; ties broken by total margin, then lot order): # Candidate W–L–T Copeland Margin Beats 1 D 2–1–0 2 +9 B, C 2 A 2–1–0 2 -1 D, C 3 B 1–2–0 1 -3 A 4 C 1–2–0 1 -5 B Winner — Ranked Robin (RCV-RR): D *** 2 candidates tie for the most wins (D, A) — tied on the tally, not a cycle (some of them beat others head-to-head, but no loop closes). Resolved by total margin, then lot order. --- Smith Set (the generalized Condorcet winner) --- The smallest group whose every member beats every candidate outside it — the honest answer to "who is even in contention?". Smith set (4 of 4): D, A, C, B Outside (0): — More than one member ⇒ NO Condorcet winner: the top of the tournament is a cycle, so the strongest "candidate" is a set, not a person. Which member of the set should win is exactly what Minimax / Ranked Pairs / Schulze disagree about — see 05_Ranked_Robin/01_Learn/cycle_resolution.md. Note: the Copeland leaders (D, A) are only part of the set — the win–loss table's top block understates how wide the contention is. Ranked Robin (RCV-RR) winner D is INSIDE the Smith set. ✓ Guaranteed: Ranked Robin (Copeland) is Smith-efficient — every member of the set outscores every outsider, so the top of the win–loss table is always inside the set, however the tie among them is then broken. More: 07_Concepts/topics/smith_set.md