Statistics and Philosophy of Voting

3 credits

Considers topics relevant to modern voting and elections through statistical and social choice lenses. Topics include the purpose and limits of democratic decision-making; social choice theory and the associated theorems; judgement aggregation; voting procedures; election case studies; election polling and forecasting; electoral redistricting and gerrymandering; fairness aspects in voting; voting in contexts other than elections. Prerequisite: introductory applied statistics from a graduate course sequence at the level of SOC 504; SOC 505; and SOC 506/CSSS 507 (or equivalent); recommended: familiarity with reading and writing proofs; and beginner ability with data programming. Offered: A, even years.