In this course we will examine some main contemporary philosophical and social scientific thinking concerning the moral foundations of democracy and some of its principal institutions. We will examine some of the main philosophical arguments about the value of democracy. What do we mean by ¿democracy¿? Is the value of democracy grounded in the results it produces or is there also some intrinsic fairness to democracy that counts in its favor? We will ask about the moral foundations of majority rule, one-person one-vote, and the legitimate role of democratic decisions in the society overall and the appropriate limits to democratic authority. We will look at some of the main economic approaches to democracy and the challenges they pose to the some of the main views about the value of democracy. We will examine Arrow¿s impossibility results in social choice theory and attempt to determine...

In this course we will examine some main contemporary philosophical and social scientific thinking concerning the moral foundations of democracy and some of its principal institutions. We will examine some of the main philosophical arguments about the value of democracy. What do we mean by ¿democracy¿? Is the value of democracy grounded in the results it produces or is there also some intrinsic fairness to democracy that counts in its favor? We will ask about the moral foundations of majority rule, one-person one-vote, and the legitimate role of democratic decisions in the society overall and the appropriate limits to democratic authority. We will look at some of the main economic approaches to democracy and the challenges they pose to the some of the main views about the value of democracy. We will examine Arrow¿s impossibility results in social choice theory and attempt to determine...

Experimental Economics is a field that began with the proposition that economic theory can be testable in a controlled laboratory setting. Experimental work has been conducted in all fields of economics including Industrial Organization, Game Theory, Public Finance, General Equilibrium Theory and even Macroeconomics. Students will be introduced to the methods of experimental science, explore major subject areas that have been addressed through laboratory experiments, and learn of some of the major personalities at the intersection of economics, politics, and philosophy. Topics to be included reflect a variety of splits in the field: behavioral economics is more closely linked to psychology, neuroeconomics attempts to link behavior to specific areas of the brain, while the main branch, experimental economics, tries to learn about individual and group behavior given economic institutions a...