Aristotle's social choice

Andranick S. Tanguiane

No 176, Working Paper Series in Economics from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management

Abstract: We describe Aristotle's mathematical model of weighted voting to explain and implement decision-making in democracies, oligarchies and the mixed states that combine elements of both systems. This model, originally presented in textual form, extends the known history of social choice theory back 450 years to the mid-4th century BC. The fact that the origins of the social choice theory go back to one of the most influential thinkers of all time enhances its scientific and historical significance.

Keywords: Social choice; history; Aristotle; democracy; oligarchy; mixed state; weighted voting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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