I will at least attemptThis is a mathematical formulationcomplete rewrite of my original answer, combined with my comments on the original question and various other answers. We
Suppose we have a finite set $C$ of candidates, and a finite set $E$ of electors (with $|C|>1$ and $|E|>2$, to avoid some degenerate cases). I will assume that we are just modelling what happens in some kind of secret ballot after campaigning has finished, so each elector makesindependently fills in some kind of private choice, which will lie in some setform. Let $F(C)$ depending on $C$be the set of possible ways to fill in the form. Reasonable symmetry conditions indicate that If all candidates are treated equally, then $F(C)$ should be functorial for bijections of $C$, and independent of the elector. Thus, the The collection of voter choices is a point in $\text{Map}(E,F(C))$$f\in\text{Map}(E,F(C))$. Let
Some obvious candidates for $P_n(C)$ denote$F(C)$ are
- $F(C)=C\amalg\{0\}$: the traditional system in which each voter selects a single candidate, or does not vote (represented by $0$).
- $F(C)=P(C)$ (the set of subsets of $C$): the "approval voting" system where each voter indicates which candidates they find acceptable
- $F(C)=\text{Ord}(C)$ (the set of total orders on $C$): the system assumed in the Arrow and Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorems, where each voter has and records a total preference order.
- $F(C)=\text{Pre}(C)$ (the set of preorders on $C$).
It is not hard to come up with other possibilities.
Note that if $|C|=n$ and $N=\{0,\dotsc,n-1\}$ then $\text{Ord}(C)$ can be identified with the set of subsets of sizebijections $n$ in$N\to C$. It follows that natural maps $C$$\text{Ord}\to F$ biject with elements of $F(N)$. Our task is then In particular, there are plenty of such maps, but we see from the above examples that often none of them will be injective. It seems reasonable to produceassume that there is a mapgiven nonempty set $\sigma\colon\text{Map}(E,F(C))\to P_n(C)$$R_0(N)\subseteq F(N)$, consisting of the possible form responses that are not obviously incompatible with some good propertiesthe preferences $0<1<\dotsb<N-1$. Given this, yet to be specifiedwe can define by functoriality a subset $R(C)\subseteq\text{Ord}(C)\times F(C)$, consisting of pairs $(o,u)$ where the form response $u$ is not obviously incompatible with the ordering $o$. The first obvious property
Now put $e=|E|$ and $$ S_e(F(C)) = \{m\colon F(C)\to \mathbb{N} : \sum_{u\in F(C)} m(u) = e\}. $$ Given $f\in\text{Map}(E,F(C))$ we can put $\mu(f)(u)=|f^{-1}\{u\}|$ to get a point $\mu(f)\in S_e(F(C))$, which is that ita complete $\text{Aut}(E)$-invariant for $f$. Any fair voting system should be natural for bijections of $E$$\text{Aut}(E)$-invariant and so should factor through $C$$\mu$. As
I will assume for the moment that we now want to elect a single candidate, so $E$ does not appear$n=1$ in Tom's notation.
Ideally we might hope for a map $\sigma\colon S_e(F(C))\to C$ such that $\sigma(\mu(f))$ is the codomain ofsuccessful candidate. Fairness between candidates dictates that this should be equivariant for $\sigma$$\text{Aut}(C)$. However, this means we have a natural mapis clearly impossible, because there will usually be many points in $F(C)^e/\Sigma_e\to P_n(C)$$S_e(F(C))$ that are fixed by $\text{Aut}(C)$, wherebut there are no such points in $e=|E|$$C$. Thus, we need some way to think about breaking ties, even if they are likely to be rare.
Now letThe approach of Duggan and Schwartz $\text{Ord}(C)$ denote(http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2FPL00007177; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duggan%E2%80%93Schwartz_theorem) is to consider voting systems $\sigma\colon S_e(\text{Ord}(C))\to P'C$, where $P'C$ is the set of total orderings onnonempty subsets of $C$. This The idea is the same as the setthat $\sigma(f)$ will usually be a singleton, but if not, one of bijections from the set $c=\{0,1,\dotsc,|C|-1\}$ tocandidates in $C$$\sigma(f)$ will be chosen by some kind of lottery. By Yoneda They show that under minimal assumptions, any point $f\in F(c)$ gives a natural map $f_*\colon\text{Ord}(C)\to F(C)$such system is manipulable, no matter what the details of the lottery might be. The composite $$ \text{Map}(E,\text{Ord}(C)) \xrightarrow{f_{**}} \text{Map}(E,F(C)) \xrightarrow{\sigma} P_n(C) $$ looks like something to which I think that this completely resolves the question for the case $F=\text{Ord}$, at least if we could apply Gibbard-Satterthwaiteaccept the traditional position that manipulability is the key thing to avoid.
EDIT: As Tom points out in the commentsSo what if $F\neq\text{Ord}$? I have tried to think of other ways of handling ties, there are problems with tiebut it seems to me that the Duggan-breakingSchwartz framework is optimal. Specifically Thus, we should think about $\text{Aut}(C)$-equivariant voting systems $\sigma\colon S_e(F(C))\to P'C$. We then need to define what it could happenwould mean for such a system to be manipulable. It seems inescapable that $E=C$such a definition must involve the notion that some voters prefer some outcomes to some other outcomes. Thus, and it could happenwe must assume that for each $c\in C$ therevoter has a preference preorder. Some voters may be completely apathetic, so their preorders will rank all candidates equally, but some other voters may have a total preference order. Any satisfactory system must be able to handle the special case where every voter's preorder is total, so if we can prove an impossibility theorem in that context, then we are done. Now choose a point $\eta(c)\in F(C)$ which expresses the preference "$c$ should get in$r\in R_0(N)$, and I don't care about anything else"giving a map $\rho\colon\text{Ord}(C)\to F(C)$. In It might happen that caseall voters choose to fill in their ballot papers by applying $\sigma(\eta)$ would have$\rho$ to betheir total preference order. If we can prove an $\text{Aut}(C)$-invariant pointimpossibility theorem in $P_n(C)$this special case, which is impossible ifthen again we are done. We now have a map $0<n<|C|$$\sigma\circ\rho_*\colon S_e(\text{Ord}(C))\to P'(C)$. However The Duggan-Schwartz theorem gives a list of four properties that this map cannot satisfy simultaneously. Because we have assumed stronger symmetry conditions than Duggan and Schwartz, the Citizen Sovereignty and non-Dictatorship conditions are automatic. The Residual Resoluteness condition says that if all voters have the same preference order, except that one could ask forvoter might swap the top two candidates, then the majority first choice should be elected. In our context this is a mapcondition on $R_0$ and $\sigma$ as above, but only defined on the set $\text{Map}(E,F(C))'$ of points with trivialand it seems like a condition that we should certainly assume. The theorem then says that $\text{Aut}(C)$$\sigma\circ\rho_*$ represents a voting system that is manipulable according to the Duggan-isotropySchwartz definition. Unless This holds for all $E$$r\in R_0(N)$, and that seems like a reasonable sufficient condition to say that $\sigma$ itself is small relativemanipulable.
If we want to elect $C$ or$n$ candidates with $F$ is unreasonably degenerate$n>1$, therewe should probably consider a framework similar to that of Duggan and Schwartz, except that $\sigma$ should be pointsa map from $f\in F(c)$ such that$\text{Map}(E,\text{Ord}(C))$ to $f_{**}$ lands in$P_{\geq n}(C)$, and precisely $\text{Map}(E,F(C))'$$n$ candidates should be chosen by lottery if $\sigma$ produces a set of size strictly larger than $n$. It looks to me as though nothing much should change, but I have not tried to work out the details.