Social Choice Methods for Database Aggregation

Abstract: Knowledge can be represented compactly in multiple ways, from a set of propositional formulas, to a Kripke model, to a database. In this paper we study the aggregation of information coming from multiple sources, each source submitting a database modelled as a first-order relational structure. In the presence of integrity constraints, we identify classes of aggregators that respect them in the aggregated database, provided these are satisfied in all individual databases. We also characterise languages for first-order queries on which the answer to a query on the aggregated database coincides with the aggregation of the answers to the query obtained on each individual database. This contribution is meant to be a first step on the application of techniques from social choice theory to knowledge representation in databases.