Condorcet Loser in 2016: Apparently Trump; Condorcet Winner: Not Clinton?

Using thermometer score data from the ANES, we show that while there may have been no clear-cut Condorcet winner among the 2016 US presidential candidates, there appears to have been a Condorcet loser: Donald Trump. Thus the surprise is that the electorate preferred not only Hillary Clinton, but als...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American politics research 2021-11, Vol.49 (6), p.618-636
Main Authors: Potthoff, Richard F., Munger, Michael C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Candidates
Elections
Electoral College
Presidential candidates
Presidential elections
Voters
Voting
Winners
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Summary:Using thermometer score data from the ANES, we show that while there may have been no clear-cut Condorcet winner among the 2016 US presidential candidates, there appears to have been a Condorcet loser: Donald Trump. Thus the surprise is that the electorate preferred not only Hillary Clinton, but also the two “minor” candidates, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, to Trump. Another surprise is that Johnson may have been the Condorcet winner. A minimal normative standard for evaluating voting systems is advanced, privileging those systems that select Condorcet winners if one exists, and critiquing systems that allow the selection of Condorcet losers. A variety of voting mechanisms are evaluated using the 2016 thermometer scores: Condorcet voting, plurality, Borda, (single winner) Hare, Coombs, range voting, and approval voting. We conclude that the essential problem with the existing voting procedure—Electoral College runoff of primary winners of two major parties—is that it (demonstrably) allows the selection of a Condorcet loser.
ISSN:1532-673X
1552-3373
DOI:10.1177/1532673X211009499