The
voting paradox (also known as
Condorcet's paradox or the
paradox of voting) is a situation noted by the
Marquis de Condorcet in the late 18th century, in which collective preferences can be cyclic (i.e., not
transitive), even if the preferences of individual voters are not cyclic. This is
paradoxical, because it means that majority wishes can be in conflict with each other. When this occurs, it is because the conflicting majorities are each made up of different groups of individuals.