Borda count - Wikipedia
votingsocial-choicerank-aggregationbordapositional-voting
Abstraction: Positional voting rule awarding points by number of candidates ranked below
Key points:
- Each candidate scores points equal to how many candidates are ranked below them on each ballot; highest total wins
- First proposed by Nicholas of Cusa (1433); independently by Jean-Charles de Borda (1770/1784 French Academy of Sciences)
- Tends to elect broadly acceptable candidates with high social utility efficiency rather than strict majority winners
- Highly vulnerable to strategic cloning (running similar candidates boosts faction probability unboundedly) and tactical burying/compromising
- Peyton Young (1988) showed Borda count approximates the maximum likelihood estimator of the best candidate
- Used in Slovenia (legislature minorities), Nauru (Dowdall harmonic variant), Eurovision Song Contest, MLB MVP, Heisman Trophy
Connections: Rank Aggregation · Social Choice Theory · Voting Systems · Condorcet Paradox