“The mathematics of power”: Public lecture by electoral law expert Friedrich Pukelsheim

Today, on March 26, 2008, Jacobs University has invited Friedrich Pukelsheim, Professor of Applied Probability Mathematics at the University of Augsburg and internationally renowned expert on electoral law, to give a talk on “The mathematics of power: How to achieve just political representation in the EU?” in the context of the current national “Science Year of Mathematics”. A reception after the German language talk, which starts at 5:15 p. m. in the Campus Center Conference Hall, offers the opportunity for further discussions with the speaker; there is no entrance fee.

[ Mar 26, 2008]  The year 2007 with the EU summits of Brüssel and Lisbon finalizing the new “Reform Treaty“ of the European Union has been an important milestone for the further development of the state confederation as one political unit. The public and political debates that accompanied the decision process, however, centred not so much on political issues but rather on the current and future EU decision making procedures: What kind of majorities validate EU ministry resolutions? How many seats should every member state have in the EU parliament? Can complex calculation methods provide a fair atonement for population losses in World War II? The arguments were based on an arsenal of seemingly non-political terms such as square roots, digressive proportionality, double majority and so forth. Friedrich Pukelsheim’s talk will explain the different mathematical models that aim at a just representation of interests within political systems.

Friedrich Pukelsheim, who studied mathematics in Cologne and Freiburg, is Professor of Applied Stochastics at the University of Augsburg since 1983. His research focus on the mathematical analysis and optimization of electoral processes has made him a sought expert and consultant for parliamentary committees in Germany and abroad. For the Swiss Zurich Canton for instance he developed an election process, nicknamed the „Double Pukelsheim“, that aims at a parliamentary seat distribution, which reflects the quota of the different parties and at the same time is a proportional representation of the canton’s different regions. Friedrich Pukelsheim is a member of numerous national and international science academies, for instance the International Statistical Institute, an advisory institution to the UN.