The social gains from exchanging votes: A simulation approach

Abstract

In recent years, a number of studies of social choice have appeared in which some form of bargaining among the participants in the decision-making process has been included in the analysis, e.g., see Buchanan-Tullock [1, 10l, Coleman 121, Haefete [4] and Wilson [ t 1 ]. These investigations have indicated the possibility of improving upon the social choices derived by simple majority rule by engaging in logrolling agreements, but it has proven difficult to formulate general conclusions concerning vote trading because of the analytical problems associated with the number of options and strategies available to each decision-maker. This has constrained most detailed analyses of individual voting to situations involving fairly small numbers of voters and issues, e.g., see Haefele t141, Riker [8], and Wilson [11].