Social choice theory, social decision scheme theory, and group decision-making

Abstract

Social choice theory and social decision scheme theory address the fundamental issue: How does a society or small group combine or aggregate a distribution of member preferences in a collective decision by known or possible voting rules and parliamentary procedures? However, research in each area has proceeded in relative independence of the other. This article (a) summarizes the major concepts of social choice theory, (b) summarizes the major concepts of social decision scheme theory, (c) presents illustrative research, (d) considers corresponding and complementary emphases of the two theories, and (e) suggests three interrelated areas of future research on group decision-making: preference for different social choice rules; successive decisions in a hierarchical system with random assignment of members at the initial level; successive decisions in a hierarchical system with nonrandom assignment of members at the initial level (gerrymandering).