scholarly journals SOCIAL CHOICE THEORY, GAME THEORY, AND POSITIVE POLITICAL THEORY

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 259-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Austen-Smith ◽  
Jeffrey S. Banks
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Social Choice ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory

On Sen's Liberal Paradox and its Reception within Political Theory and Welfare Economics

Politics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Vanhuysse
Keyword(s):  
Social Choice ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
Liberal Paradox

In this article, Amartya Sen's seminal proof of the impossibility of a Paretian liberal is briefly reviewed. I then discuss the reception of this alleged ‘liberal paradox’ within the fields of political theory and welfare economics. In particular, I examine the criticisms made by Brian Barry, and their wider implications for the field of social choice theory. It is argued that the various criticisms made on Sen's characterisation of liberty are fundamental, and that Sen's subsequent defence of his position is unconvincing. Moreover, there remain some wider doubts as to the usefulness of social choice theory's SWF approach to individual rights and freedoms.

The Heresthetics of Coup Making

1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
YOUSSEF COHEN
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Choice ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
The Relationship

Heresthetics is a term coined by Riker to refer to the stratagems used by politicians to manipulate the structure of a decision-making situation. The object of such manipulation is to force one's opponents into a choice of alternatives such that, whichever alternative is chosen, the opponents will lose. The main argument of this article is that military coups and regimes are largely the outcomes of successful heresthetical maneuvers. In this article my argument is applied to the emergence of the Brazilian military regime of 1964. But the argument should apply more widely. At the very least, this preliminary exercise should stimulate more research on the strategic maneuvers that engender military regimes and other forms of political change. By investigating the relationship between heresthetics and regime change this article also shows how social choice theory and game theory can be used to complement and enrich current explanations of political change.

Democratic Deliberation and Social Choice

2018 ◽  
pp. 462-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian List
Keyword(s):  
Social Choice ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory ◽  
Escape Route ◽  
Democratic Deliberation ◽  
Opinion Change ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Collective Decisions ◽  
Shed Light

In normative political theory, it is widely accepted that democracy cannot be reduced to voting alone, but that it requires deliberation. In formal social choice theory, by contrast, the study of democracy has focused primarily on the aggregation of individual opinions into collective decisions, typically through voting. While the literature on deliberation has an optimistic flavour, the literature on social choice is more mixed. It is centred around several paradoxes and impossibility results identifying conflicts between different intuitively plausible desiderata. In recent years, there has been a growing dialogue between the two literatures. This paper discusses the connections between them. Important insights are that (i) deliberation can complement aggregation and open up an escape route from some of its negative results; and (ii) the formal models of social choice theory can shed light on some aspects of deliberation, such as the nature of deliberation-induced opinion change.

Book Reviews: The General Assembly in World Politics, The United Nations and Peacekeeping: Results, Limitations and Prospects, Political Writings, on Duties, Policraticus, Political Writings, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, Statism and Anarchy, Patriarcha and other Writings, Social Choice Theory, Social Choice: A Framework for Collective Decisions and Individual Judgements, Individualism: Theories and Methods, Capitalism and Individualism: Reframing the Argument for the Free Society, Transition to Modernity: Essays on Power, Wealth and Belief, Modern Conditions, Postmodern Controversies, Political Theory and Postmodernism, Equality and Partiality, Democracy, Power and Justice: Essays in Political Theory, Political Argument: A Reissue with a New Introduction, The Social and Political Thought of R. G. Collingwood, Essays in Political Philosophy, Feminist Interpretations and Political Theory, Staking a Claim: Feminism, Bureaucracy and the State, The Sexual Contract, The Disorder of Women: Democracy, Feminism and Political Theory, beyond the Welfare State? The New Political Economy of Welfare, Social Change, Social Welfare and Social Science, Jahrbuch Extremismus und Demokratie, The Symbolic Presidency: How Presidents Portray Themselves, Legislating Together: The White House and Capitol Hill from Eisenhower to Reagan, The President in the Legislative Arena, Lyndon Johnson's War: The Road to Stalemate in Vietnam, into the Quagmire: Lyndon Johnson and the Escalation of the Vietnam War, Kremlin in Transition

1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 358-377
Author(s):  
Ennals ◽  
Bernard Crick ◽  
Iain McLean ◽  
Ian Forbes ◽  
Zygmunt Bauman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Choice ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory ◽  
World Politics ◽  
White House ◽  
The Road ◽  
Sexual Contract ◽  
Lyndon Johnson

scholarly journals AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM ON RATIONAL CHOICE AND PHILOSOPHY

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-173
Author(s):  
Samir Okasha ◽  
John A. Weymark
Keyword(s):  
Game Theory ◽  
Decision Theory ◽  
Social Choice ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Social Choice Theory ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Vanderbilt University ◽  
Selection Of

This symposium contains a selection of the papers that were presented at a conference we organized on Rational Choice and Philosophy that was held at Vanderbilt University on 16 and 17 May 2014. The aim of the conference was to provide an inter-disciplinary forum for philosophical work that uses ideas and tools from rational choice theory, understood broadly to include decision theory, game theory and social choice theory.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document