Public Choice

This course is based on a view of human beings as rational maximisers of utility. This means that people want as much well-being for themselves as possible, and choose the best ways of getting there. Many economists and other social scientists assume that humans behave that way, and the course applies this view of human behaviour to political issues. Some of the most important concepts and analytical methods that students have encountered in previous studies in Economics include public goods and game theory. The idea of politics as an arena where people act rationally has generated a large area of research usually called "Public Choice", and the course covers many classical research results from this area, such as for instance the median voter theorem, the Tiebout model, and Condorcet's paradox. Various theoretical reasons why rational people vote, or abstain from voting, are discussed and compared to empirical results. The course also helps students understand phenomena such as why many people are so ignorant of and indifferent to politics, despite the fact that politics has a great impact on their lives; why politicians often tend to gravitate to the "centre"; advantages and disadvantages of political decisions made at the local or the central level; how financially disadvantageous policy can come about; and how interest groups, which are small minorities in relation to a population, can sometimes have a great impact on political decisions.