Arrow's impossibility theorem suggests that:
A)a voting system will be ideal if the properties of intransitivity and dependence of irrelevant alternatives are satisfied
B)a voting system will be ideal if some form of dictatorship is allowed
C)under certain conditions, there is no scheme for aggregating individual preferences into a valid set of social preferences
D)none of the above

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Arrow's impossibility theorem states that under certain conditions, there is no way to design a voting system that can perfectly represent the preferences of individuals in a group. The theorem suggests that it is impossible to create a scheme for aggregating individual preferences into a valid set of social preferences without violating one or more desirable properties such as transitivity, independence of irrelevant alternatives, or Pareto efficiency. Therefore, option (C) is the correct answer. Options (A) and (B) are incorrect as they do not reflect the main idea of Arrow's impossibility theorem.

Arrow's Impossibility Theorem Suggests That