Social Choice Theory

4 credits · Undergraduate

Individuals in a group often have conflicting preferences between alternative courses of action, e.g., concerning the choice of a leader for the group, the choice of public policies, and so on. Moreover, actions often affect individuals differently: some may gain while others may lose, and the magnitudes of gains and losses may be unequal for different individuals. These observations lead to two of the basic questions of Social Choice Theory. First, what are good methods of group decision making in the face of conflicting preferences? Second, can we evaluate the overall social welfare of some alternative course of action in terms of the welfare of each individual in the group under that alternative?