Introduction to Social Choice Theory: decisions, cooperation, competition, justice 3500-SSZCZ-WTWS

The aim of the course is to present basics of Social Choice Theory. The theory examines properties of methods of social decision making. Social decisions can be decisions taken in general elections, decisions taken in decision-making bodies (parliaments, councils, committees, international organizations); on the other hand - they may be decisions regarding group (eg the distribution of goods or encumbrances between its members). Social decisions are generally taken in a formalized way, using strictly defined procedures. The assessment of these procedures may include their compliance with the principles of democracy (which require precise wording), standards of justice (also requiring definition), respect for individual rights and group autonomy, and, on the other hand, compliance with various rationality criteria.
The basic blocks of classes will include: introduction to the theory of individual decisions and utility theory, the basis of the theory of social decisions and methods of aggregation of preferences and their practical implementation in the form of voting methods and electoral systems; criteria for democracy, rationality, and respect for individual rights; methods of equitable distribution of goods and theirs relation to proportional representation methods.
Course topics
1. The theory of social choice - basic concepts and issues
2. Choice, preferences, utility, risk.
3. Individual rationality and its limitations
4. Individual decisions in conditions of uncertainty
5. Social decisions: the problem of aggregation of individual decisions
6. Democratic decisions. Paradoxes of preference aggregation
7. "Majority" voting
8. Social choice and autonomy of individuals and groups
9. Decisions in the conditions of strategic interaction: game theory
10. Fair distribution of goods and burdens - introduction
11. Problems of proportional distribution and proportional electoral systems
12. Game theory and the distribution of goods: N-person games in the form of a characteristic function
13. Division of goods in a case of diversified rights and strategic position
14. Specific problems of division of indivisible goods