The majority of the interest for Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794), has been focused on his work in mathematics and political science, especially on his famous method on voting tally. With a background in the French enlightenment, on the brink of the revolution, this essay focuses on his political and philosophical ideas, specially his thoughts on the role of education in humanity’s struggle toward greater freedom. Is it possible to identify a connection between the concepts of education and freedom in his writings? This question is largely unanswered, even though it is fundamental for the understanding of the underlying reasoning of Condorcet. It is this gap that this essay intends to fill. By analyzing Condorcet’s essays, the Sketch and On Freedom, using Quentin Skinner’s contextual method, the essay aims to explore Condorcet’s reasoning on the two concepts, and tries to identify whether or not a connection between them exists. The study finds that there is a connection between education and freedom present in the writings of Condorcet, and it is clear that he has a very structured view of the two concepts, respectively. The distinction between instruction and education is especially central in his essays and the identified link between education and freedom.

Thèse--University de Paris. / Includes bibliographical references.

Estudiamos los mecanismos a partir de los cuales los miembros de una sociedad deciden sobre cuestiones colectivas. Cada agente tiene preferencias distintas, pero la sociedad ha de tomar una única decisión colectiva. ¿Qué características necesita cumplir un perfil de preferencias para que exista un ganador por mayoría? ¿Qué reglas de decisión serían útiles para decidir sobre la localización de un mal público como lo es una cárcel o una planta nuclear? ¿Para qué sirven las campañas políticas en las que los candidatos no se limitan a mostrar sus propuestas a los votantes, sino también las de sus rivales? El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar la agregación de preferencias individuales en estos casos. En particular, se identifican las condiciones bajo las cuales existe una alternativa ganadora de Condorcet débil, se describen las reglas fuertemente no manipulables por grupos y unánimes para escoger el nivel de un mal público, y por último, se propone un modelo que explique la existencia de campañas de contraste en la competencia electoral. Capítulo 1: Suponemos que cada agente tiene preferencias sobre un conjunto finito de alternativas. Estas preferencias pueden ser débiles, es decir, existe la posibilidad de que el agente sea indiferente entre varias alternativas. Un procedimiento atractivo para decidir sobre qué alternativa es la mejor socialmente, es comparándolas por pares. Aquella alternativa que gana por mayoría o empata con todas las demás se la denomina ganadora de Condorcet débil. No siempre existen alternativas con esta propiedad. Obtenemos las condiciones necesarias y suficientes que debe cumplir el perfil de preferencias individuales para que exista al menos una alternativa ganadora de Condorcet débil. Capítulo 2: Es razonable suponer que al considerar la localización de un mal público los agentes vean aumentar su bienestar a medida que la localización escogida sea más lejana a la que consideran peor. Sin embargo, puede existir una localización a partir de la cual las externalidades negativas de este mal ya no sean percibidas por los agentes. Por ello, extendemos las preferencias single-dipped (cuando el agente considera que hay una localización peor y a medida que la localización se aleja, su bienestar aumenta) permitiendo que a partir de una localización el agente sea indiferente a todas las localizaciones más lejanas, alcanzando su máximo nivel de bienestar por no recibir los efectos negativos del mal público. Bajo este supuesto, caracterizamos las reglas de decisión fuertemente no manipulables por grupos y unánimes. Capítulo 3: Consideramos las decisiones estratégicas de candidatos a ejercer un cargo público. Cada candidato tiene decidido qué política implementar en el caso de ganar, y los votantes saben cuál es su propia política idónea, pero desconocen la de los candidatos. Pretendemos incorporar explícitamente en el análisis el hecho de que los candidatos en campaña no sólo hacen promesas sobre sus políticas a implementar en un futuro, sino que también se pronuncian sobre las políticas que realizará su contrincante, en el caso de que este gane. En un contexto dinámico, analizamos las consecuencias de que existan las campañas de contraste, donde los candidatos no se limitan a hacer promesas sobre sus propias políticas. Si las propias promesas y los pronunciamientos sobre el rival se alejan de la política implementada por el ganador, la reputación del candidato que hace la campaña disminuye, y en el periodo siguiente puede perder tanta credibilidad, que no tenga oportunidad de ganar. Creando una disyuntiva de ganar en el presente y conservar la suficiente credibilidad para el futuro, podemos conseguir que en equilibrio los candidatos revelen su propia. / We study mechanisms by which the members of a society choose a social alternative. Each agent has his own preferences, but still the society has to select a unique alternative. Which characteristics ought to have a preference profile in order to admit the existence of a majority winner? Which rules are appropriate to decide over the location of a public bad such as a dumpsite, a jail, or a nuclear plant? What are the purposes of political campaigns where candidates do not limit themselves to make promises to voters about their own policies, but also about those of their rivals? The aim of this work is to study the aggregation of individual preferences in such cases. In particular, we identify conditions under which there exists a weak Condorcet winner, we characterize the class of strong group strategy-proof and unanimous rules to locate a public bad, and finally, we propose a model to explain the existence of contrast campaigns in political competition. Chapter 1: Suppose that each agent has preferences on a finite set of alternatives. Those preferences may be weak, that is, the agent might be indifferent among several alternatives. A meaningful procedure to determine the socially best alternative is to compare alternatives by pairs using majority voting. An alternative is a Weak Condorcet Winner if it beats by majority to any other available alternative. However, it may be the case that no such alternative exists. We identify sufficient and necessary conditions on preference profiles under which a Weak Condorcet Winner exists. Chapter 2: It is reasonable to assume that when considering the localization of a public bad agents feel that their welfare improves as the chosen location of the public bad moves away from their worse locations. However, there may be a location from which the negative externalities of the public bad are no longer perceived by the agents. Therefore, we extend the single-dipped preferences (when the agent believes there is a worse location and as the location moves away, his welfare increases) by allowing for the existence of a location from which the agent is indifferent with all locations located farther away, reaching his maximum level of welfare because he does not receive the negative effects of the public bad. Under this preference restriction, we characterize the set of strong group strategy-proof and unanimous rules. Chapter 3: We consider the strategic decisions of candidates running for public office. Each candidate has decided what policy to implement in case of winning, and voters know their own ideal policy, but do not know the ones the candidates will implement after winning. We aim to explicitly incorporate into the analysis the fact that candidates make promises not only about the policies they will implement in the future, but also speak out about the policies that his opponent will undertake, in the event of winning. In a dynamic context, we analyze the consequences of the existence of contrasting campaigns, where candidates are not limited to making promises about their own policies. If one’s promises and pronouncements on the opponent are very different from the policy implemented by the winner, the candidate’s reputation decreases, and in the next period can lose so much credibility, that he has no chance of winning. By building a trade-off between winning today and preserving enough credibility for the future, we can obtain equilibria in which the candidates reveal their own policy.

If the number of individuals is odd, Campbell and Kelly (2003) show that majority rule is the only non-dictatorial strategy-proof social choice rule on the domain of linear orders that admit a Condorcet winner, an alternative that is preferred to every other by a majority of individuals in pairwise majority voting. This paper shows that the claim is false when the number of individuals is even, and provides a characterization of non-dictatorial strategy-proof social choice rules on this domain. Two examples illustrate the primary reason that the result does not translate to the even case: when the number of individuals is even, no single individual can change her reported preference ordering in a manner that changes the Condorcet winner while remaining within the preference domain. Introducing two new definitions to account for this partitioning of the preference domain, the chapter concludes with a counterpart to the characterization of Campbell and Kelly (2003) for the even case. Adapting the models of Laibson (1994) and O’Donogue and Rabin (2001), a learning–naıve agent is presented who is endowed with beliefs about the value of the quasi–hyperbolic discount factor that enters into the utility calculations of her future–selves. Facing an infinite–horizon decision problem in which the payoff to a particular action varies stochastically, the agent updates her beliefs over time. Conditions are given under which the behavior of a learning–na¨ıve agent is eventually indistinguishable from that of a sophisticated agent, contributing to the efforts of Ali (2011) to justify the use of sophistication as a modeling assumption. Building upon the literature on one–to–one matching pioneered by Gale and Shapley (1962), this paper introduces a social network to the standard marriage model, embodying informational limitations of the agents. Motivated by the restrictive nature of stability in large markets, two new network–stability concepts are introduced that reflect informational limitations; in particular, two agents cannot form a blocking pair if they are not acquainted. Following Roth and Sotomayor (1990), key properties of the sets of network–stable matchings are derived, and concludes by introducing a network–formation game whose set of complete–information Nash equilibria correspond to the set of stable matchings / Economics

Thèse--Lettres--Paris, 1904. / En appendice, choix de textes de Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet, suivis d'une lettre de Marie-Louise Sophie de Condorcet. Bibliogr. pp.XI-XXXI. Index.

Thèse--Sciences politiques et économiques--Poitiers, 1915. / Bibliogr. p. V-VI.

Inaug.-Diss.--Bern. / "Anmerkungen": 1 p. at end.

A favorable condition for good governance is that elected presidents obtain the support of both the median voter and the median legislator. Several electoral rules are evaluated for their results in 111 presidential and 137 congressional elections in 18 Latin American countries during the current democratic periods. The frequency of median voter’s or Condorcet-winner presidents appears to be higher under rules with a second-round runoff than under simple plurality rule. The victory of Condorcet-loser or the most rejected candidate is discarded under majority runoff rule. More than half of democratic presidents have not belonged to the median voter’s party in the presidential or the congressional elections. Many of them have faced wide popular and political opposition and entered into inter-institutional conflict. / Una condición favorable para la gobernabilidad es que el presidente electo obtenga el apoyo tanto del elector mediano como del legislador mediano. Por ello, se evalúan las reglas y resul- tados electorales en 111 elecciones presidenciales y 137 elecciones parlamentarias en 18 países en América Latina durante el actual periodo democrático. La frecuencia de presidentes elegidos por los electores medianos o ganadores parece ser más alta cuando las reglas implican una segunda vuelta electoral. La victoria del perdedor de Condorcet, o el candidato con más anticuerpos en los votantes, queda descartada bajo el sistema de mayoría simple electoral. Más de la mitad de los presidentes electos no pertenecieron al partido del votante mediano en las elecciones presidenciales o congresales. Muchos de esos gobernantes se han enfrentado a una amplia oposiciónpolítica y popular y han ingresado a un conflicto interinstitucional.

Trata-se de pesquisa teórica, de caráter filosófico, que procura avaliar o lugar ocupado por Condorcet (1743-1794) no universo da filosofia e do pensamento educacional do século XVIII. Sabe-se que o \"Século das Luzes\" atribuiu enorme importância à tarefa de educar. Contudo, é oportuno destacar que tamanha importância deve-se, notadamente, à compreensão que este século teve de si próprio. A maioria dos intelectuais que se destacaram no período acreditava viver no \"século da filosofia\", da supremacia da razão e de seu exercício e, nesse sentido, o ato de educar constituía uma espécie de compromisso com o próprio tempo, pois, propagar as luzes significava conferir à espécie humana os instrumentos necessários para que o desenvolvimento das ciências e das artes não mais fosse interrompido. A elaboração da Enciclopédia, um dos mais significativos e importantes empreendimentos do Iluminismo, na medida que se propunha a inventariar o repertório dos conhecimentos disponíveis para promover a aquisição constante de novas luzes, revestindo-se, assim, de enorme potencial educativo, constitui um bom exemplo do otimismo pedagógico partilhado pelos iluministas. Herdeiro desta tradição, o pensamento de Condorcet representa, de maneira igualmente exemplar, o espírito do Século das Luzes. Além do conhecido \"otimismo histórico\" e da \"teoria do progresso\", expostos, principalmente, no Esboço de um quadro histórico dos progressos do espírito humano, sua obra é portadora de traços de originalidade que não podem ser desprezados, especialmente no que se refere à constituição das ciências humanas, à defesa da igualdade, da liberdade e da instrução pública. / This is a theoretical research with philosophical character that looks for evaluation of the place occupied by Condorcet (1743-1794) in the universe of Philosophy and educational thought of 18th century. It\'s known that the \"Century of Lights\" attributed enormous importance to the task of educating. However, it is opportune to detach that so great importance is due, notably, to the understanding that this century had about itself. The majority of the intellectuals that were detached in the period believed to live in the century of Philosophy\", of the supremacy of reason and of its exercise and, in this direction, the act of educating constituted a kind of compromise with the own time because propagating the lights meant to confer to the human species the necessary instruments so that the development of sciences and arts was no more interrupted. The elaboration of the Encyclopedia, one of the most significant and important enterprises of the Enlightenment since it proposed to inventory the repertoire of the available knowledge to promote the constant acquisition of new lights and so, arming itself, of enormous educative potential, constitutes a good example of the pedagogical optimism shared by the Enlightenment men. The thought of Condorcet, heir of this tradition, represents, in equally exemplary manner, the spirit of the Century of Lights. Beyond the known \"historical optimism\" and the \"theory of the progress\", displayed, mainly, in the Esquisse d\'un tableau historique des progrès de l\'esprit humain, his work is bearer of traces of originality that cannot be rejected, especially in that it refers to the constitution of Human Sciences, to the equality, freedom and public instruction defences.

Trata-se de pesquisa teórica, de caráter filosófico, que procura avaliar o lugar ocupado por Condorcet (1743-1794) no universo da filosofia e do pensamento educacional do século XVIII. Sabe-se que o \"Século das Luzes\" atribuiu enorme importância à tarefa de educar. Contudo, é oportuno destacar que tamanha importância deve-se, notadamente, à compreensão que este século teve de si próprio. A maioria dos intelectuais que se destacaram no período acreditava viver no \"século da filosofia\", da supremacia da razão e de seu exercício e, nesse sentido, o ato de educar constituía uma espécie de compromisso com o próprio tempo, pois, propagar as luzes significava conferir à espécie humana os instrumentos necessários para que o desenvolvimento das ciências e das artes não mais fosse interrompido. A elaboração da Enciclopédia, um dos mais significativos e importantes empreendimentos do Iluminismo, na medida que se propunha a inventariar o repertório dos conhecimentos disponíveis para promover a aquisição constante de novas luzes, revestindo-se, assim, de enorme potencial educativo, constitui um bom exemplo do otimismo pedagógico partilhado pelos iluministas. Herdeiro desta tradição, o pensamento de Condorcet representa, de maneira igualmente exemplar, o espírito do Século das Luzes. Além do conhecido \"otimismo histórico\" e da \"teoria do progresso\", expostos, principalmente, no Esboço de um quadro histórico dos progressos do espírito humano, sua obra é portadora de traços de originalidade que não podem ser desprezados, especialmente no que se refere à constituição das ciências humanas, à defesa da igualdade, da liberdade e da instrução pública. / This is a theoretical research with philosophical character that looks for evaluation of the place occupied by Condorcet (1743-1794) in the universe of Philosophy and educational thought of 18th century. It\'s known that the \"Century of Lights\" attributed enormous importance to the task of educating. However, it is opportune to detach that so great importance is due, notably, to the understanding that this century had about itself. The majority of the intellectuals that were detached in the period believed to live in the century of Philosophy\", of the supremacy of reason and of its exercise and, in this direction, the act of educating constituted a kind of compromise with the own time because propagating the lights meant to confer to the human species the necessary instruments so that the development of sciences and arts was no more interrupted. The elaboration of the Encyclopedia, one of the most significant and important enterprises of the Enlightenment since it proposed to inventory the repertoire of the available knowledge to promote the constant acquisition of new lights and so, arming itself, of enormous educative potential, constitutes a good example of the pedagogical optimism shared by the Enlightenment men. The thought of Condorcet, heir of this tradition, represents, in equally exemplary manner, the spirit of the Century of Lights. Beyond the known \"historical optimism\" and the \"theory of the progress\", displayed, mainly, in the Esquisse d\'un tableau historique des progrès de l\'esprit humain, his work is bearer of traces of originality that cannot be rejected, especially in that it refers to the constitution of Human Sciences, to the equality, freedom and public instruction defences.