What is Condorcet method?
[[File:Preferential_ballot.svg|right|thumb|Example Condorcet method voting ballot. Blank votes are treated as ranking that candidate last.]] A '''Condorcet method''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|pron|k|ɒ|n|d|ɔr|ˈ|s|eɪ}}; {{IPA-fr|kɔ̃dɔʁsɛ|lang}}) is one of many [[Voting system|election methods]]. It is part of a group of voting methods called [[ranked voting]]: people rank the candidates, by their preference. A condorcet method will elect the candidate that is preferred by more voters than their opponent in every head-to-head election against each of the other candidates, whenever there is such a candidate. This candidate, known as the ''pairwise champion'' or ''beats-all winner'', is formally called the ''Condorcet winner''. When voters rank the people according to their choice, they can also assign the same rank to more than one candidate. To get the result, the people analyzing will look at how often a candidate is ranked higher than its competitors. Candidates that are always above their opponents are the Condorcet winners. There are different Condorcet methods. When there is a Condorcet winner, they will agree on who the Condorcet winner is. There are situations, when there is no Condorcet winner. In these situations, the different methods use different ways to pick a candidate, who they then declare as successful. [[Social choice theory]] looks at different methods of selecting a winner; each of the methods as benefits and drawbacks. There may be situations, where such a Condorcet winner might not exist in a particular election. This is because the preference of a group of voters selecting from more than two options can possibly be cyclic — that is, it is possible (but very rare) that every candidate has an opponent that defeats them in a two-candidate contest. (This is similar to the game [[rock paper scissors]], where each hand shape wins against only one opponent and loses to another). The possibility of such cyclic preferences in a group of voters is known as the Condorcet paradox. However, there always exis