TRAGIC CHOICES AND COLLECTIVE DECISION-MAKING: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF VOTER PREFERENCES FOR ALTERNATIVE COLLECTIVE DECISION-MAKING MECHANISMS*

Abstract

Central to this paper has been the idea that there might be a demand on the part of the citizens for having specific decision‐mechanisms in specific types of situations. This demand cannot be deduced on purely theoretical grounds, but rather should be registered case by case. Theory might help in categorising classes of situations where decisions can be tackled with the same approach. In any case, the choice of a decision‐mechanism should not be left completely at the discretion of the policy‐maker if the citizens's welfare is to be promoted in a suitable way.