ABSTRACT
In any group, organization, or society, individuals are constantly interacting with one another in order to arrive at decisions. Examples are almost endless: A city council passes an ordinance; a family decides whether to vacation in the mountains or at the seashore; a jury returns a verdict; the stockholders of a corporation elect a chairperson of the board. All of these situations have several characteristics in common. A collection of two or more individuals must choose one alternative from among two or more alternatives. The individuals involved ordinarily have preferences among the alternatives, and these preferences often differ. One person would like the group to choose one alternative, whereas another person would like the group to choose a different alternative. A problem thus exists as to how the preferences of the different individuals are to be combined or aggregated to produce a group decision.
