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When Do Groups Get It Right? On the Epistemic Performance of Voting and Deliberation
Wann treffen Gruppen richtige Entscheidungen? Über die epistemische Leistungsfähigkeit von Wahl- und Deliberationsverfahren
[journal article]
Abstract
This paper examines the claim that democratic decision making is epistemically valuable. Focussing on communication and voting, circumstances are identified under which groups are able to reliably identify the ‘correct alternative.’ Employing formal models from social epistemology, group performance... view more
This paper examines the claim that democratic decision making is epistemically valuable. Focussing on communication and voting, circumstances are identified under which groups are able to reliably identify the ‘correct alternative.’ Employing formal models from social epistemology, group performance under varying conditions in a simple epistemic task is scrutinized. Simulation results show that larger majority requirements can favour the veto power of closed-minded individuals, but can also increase precision in well-functioning groups. Reasonable scepticism against other people's opinions can provide a useful impediment to overly quick convergence onto a false consensus when independent information acquisition is possible.... view less
Keywords
theory of democracy; political decision; voting; interaction; counseling; epistemology; deliberation; decision making; group; democratic behavior; decision making process; model; group decision; consensus
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
Deliberation; voting; agent-based modeling; group decision making; bounded confidence; social epistemology
Document language
English
Publication Year
2018
Page/Pages
p. 89-109
Journal
Historical Social Research, 43 (2018) 1
Issue topic
Agent-Based Modeling in Social Science, History, and Philosophy
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.43.2018.1.89-109
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed