CONFLICT, DICTATORSHIP, AND ARROW’S IMPOSSIBILITY THEOREM

Abstract: Since the 18th century, doubt has been raised concerning “rational” majoritarian public choice: the “voting paradox” holds, in a simple calculation made famous by the Marquis de Condorcet, that rational resolution of divergent preferences by voting is impossible. The economist Kenneth Arrow extended this in 1951 to prove that no rational order of diverse preferences [R] is possible other than dictatorship for a group of any size. But Arrow’s meaning of “rational” assumes fixed preferences instantaneously analyzed, and ignores any preference adjustment, necessary in social conflict resolution. If preferences do adjust to resolve conflicts, Arrow’s theorem reduces to the formula that any group of unyielding preference holders can only be governed by dictatorship