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👯‍♂️ Pairwise Voting Explained

  1. Head-to-Head Comparisons: In pairwise voting, voters compare two projects at a time. For example, you might be asked to choose between Project A and Project B. This means you only need to focus on these two options rather than considering all projects simultaneously.

Pairwise Voting

  1. Making Choices: As a voter, you select your preferred project in each comparison. This approach reduces the complexity of voting because it narrows down your choices to just two at any given moment.
  2. Collecting Preferences: Once all the pairwise comparisons are completed, the preferences from all voters are collected. This data helps to understand which projects are favored by the community.
  3. Determining Funding Distribution: After gathering all the votes, GrantPicks uses the results to allocate funds among the projects based on their popularity. The more a project is preferred over others in these comparisons, the more funding it may receive.
  4. Transparent and Engaging: This method not only makes voting more engaging but also ensures that the decision-making process is transparent. Voters can see how their preferences directly influence which projects receive support.

Advantages​

  1. Simplicity for voters: It's often easier for voters to compare two options directly rather than ranking multiple candidates.
  2. Eliminates calibration issues: Unlike rating systems, pairwise comparisons don't suffer from differences in how individuals interpret scales.
  3. Consistency over time: Voters' preferences remain consistent even as new options are introduced.
  4. Infinite precision: Pairwise comparisons can theoretically distinguish between very similar options.
  5. Uses all available information: The method considers the full set of voter preferences.
  6. Satisfies important criteria: Pairwise voting meets the Condorcet, majority, and monotonicity criteria.
  7. Efficient evaluation process: Voters typically only vote on a subset of all possible pairs, making the evaluation process quicker and more manageable.

Disadvantages​

  1. Potential for circular preferences: In some cases, the method can lead to non-transitive group preferences.
  2. Time-consuming: As the number of candidates increases, the number of comparisons grows quadratically.
  3. Possibility of ties: In some scenarios, the method can result in ties or deadlocks.
  4. Violates independence of irrelevant alternatives: The outcome can change when irrelevant options are added or removed.
  5. Can conflict with other methods: Results may differ significantly from other voting systems like the Borda count.

Resources on Pairwise​