ABSTRACT
Wenowconsiderhowtodefine'best'or'collectivelymostpreferred' alternatives.Thishassignificancefromtheperspectiveofsocialchoice theoryandthenormativequestionsidentifiedintheintroductorysection, butourprimarymotivationconcernstherelevanceofsuchanalysisforthe descriptiveanalysisofcommitteevotingoutcomes.Fromtheperspective ofdescriptivetheory,thetermsolutionsetcommonlyreferstoasetof alternativesthatincludesallpossibleoutcomesofavotingprocess,given certainbehavioralassumptions.Inthefollowingdiscussion,majority preferenceistakentobetherelevantcollectivepreferencerelation.
