Assuming Quote by Kenneth Arrow
![“There's only one problem that bothers me. And that's something my theorem [ of Impossibility] really doesn't cover. In my theorem I was assuming people vote sincerely. The trouble with methods where you have three or four classes, I think if people vote sincerely they may well be very…” quote by Kenneth Arrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/151/kenneth-arrow-14948_assuming_there-s-only-one-problem-that-bothers-me_1913180.jpg){kind=icon}
“There's only one problem that bothers me. And that's something my theorem [ of Impossibility] really doesn't cover. In my theorem I was assuming people vote sincerely. The trouble with methods where you have three or four classes, I think if people vote sincerely they may well be very satisfactory. The problem is the incentive to misrepresent your vote may be high.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Social Choice and Individual Values, Kenneth Arrow, 1951
The quote highlights that voting systems assuming sincere voting can be undermined by incentives to misrepresent preferences, making them unreliable.
In simple terms: Voting systems fail when people lie about preferences.
Key Takeaway
Design mechanisms that reduce strategic voting.
Themes
politics
voting
strategy
incentives
mechanism design
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
theoretical
critical
When to use this quote
- elections
- committee decisions
- board voting
- policy surveys
- public referenda
Key Concepts
social choice theory
strategic behavior
game theory
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we detect insincere voting?
- What mechanisms discourage misrepresentation?
A Different Perspective
Strategic voting can still dominate even with many options.
![“In my [Impossibility] theorem I'm assuming that the information is a ranking. Each voter can say of any two candidates, I prefer this one to this one. So then we have essentially a ranking. It's a list saying this is my first choice. This is my second choice. Each voter, in principle, could be…” quote by Kenneth Arrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9eb/kenneth-arrow-14948_asks_in-my-impossibility-theorem-i-m-assuming_2448414.jpg){kind=icon}
