Realistic Opinion Aggregation Lehrer-Wagner with a Finite Set of Opinion Values

Opinion aggregation problems arise when a number of individuals express different opinions on some set of variables (the ‘agenda’) and we wish to combine them into a single consistent ‘collective’ opinion on each variable. General methods for solving problems of this kind have been extensively studied in different domains for instance in social choice theory, in statistics and in judgment aggregation theory – typically by identifying the class of methods satisfying one or more constraints. And although the kinds of opinions (votes, probability estimates, acceptances of propositions, etc.,) that that serve as inputs differ in these studies, as do the attendant notions of consistency of opinion, very similar constraints on aggregation are invoked in all of them.