Elections lend themselves well to game theory analysis because they run for a finite length of time, have a limited number of participants, and the rules and outcomes are known.
As part of my course on game theory, we study voting games. The first video covers several concepts, including:
-- Key definitions, such as majority rule (needing more than half of the vote to win) vs. plurality rule (receiving the most votes, even if less than half).
-- The concept of single-peaked preferences, where preferences increase to a peak and then decrease.
-- The median voter theorem, highlighting the significance of the voter in the middle in elections.
-- Strategic voting (voting for a preferred candidate who can win) and naïve voting (voting for the first preference regardless of outcome), as well as the Condorcet rule and Kenneth Arrow's four criteria for a good election scheme.
The second video covers alternative electoral schemes, including
-- plurality rule (where the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority)
-- runoff elections (used to ensure a majority)
-- preference voting via the Borda rule (assigning preferences and points to candidates)
-- preference voting with an instant runoff (eliminating candidates with the fewest first-place votes),
-- approval voting (where the candidate with the most "yes" votes wins).
* We also cover the importance of understanding the impact of voting rules on election outcomes. This is important as different electoral schemes can lead to different candidates winning elections.
Check out the second video here: