Uninformed 'vital for democracy'
Uninformed 'vital for democracy'
- December 19, 2011
- Don Saari, Distinguished Professor of Economics and Mathematics and Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences director, is quoted in the BBC News, Mother Board, and e! Science News December 15, 2011
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BBC News:
Uninformed individuals are vital for achieving a democratic consensus, according to
a study in the journal Science. The researchers say that they dilute the influence
of minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone else.... The findings challenge
the commonly held idea that an outspoken minority can manipulate uncommitted voters....
Donald Saari, a professor of mathematics and economics at the University of California,
Irvine who studies voting systems, said he saw parallels to the work in markets and
politics. He said the arc from minority domination to pluralism to the potential degeneration
into "noise," could be seen in the US electoral system.
For the full story, please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16206336.
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