Listed in: Mathematics and Statistics, as MATH-150
Tanya L. Leise (Sections 01 and 02)
The outcomes of many elections, whether to elect the next United States president or to rank college football teams, can displease many of the voters. How can perfectly fair elections produce results that nobody likes? We will analyze different voting systems, including majority rule, plurality rule, Borda count, and approval voting, and assess a voter’s power to influence the election under each system, for example, by calculating the Banzhaf power index. We will prove Arrow’s Theorem and discuss its implications. After exploring the pitfalls of various voting systems through both theoretical analysis and case studies, we will try to answer some pressing questions: Which voting system best reflects the will of the voters? Which is least susceptible to manipulation? What properties should we seek in a voting system, and how can we best attain them?
Limited to 24 students. Fall semester. Professor Leise.
If Overenrolled: Priority to 1st and 2nd year students, with a mix of majors and non-majors.
Section 01
M 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM ONLI ONLI
W 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM ONLI ONLI
Section 02
M 11:20 AM - 12:10 PM ONLI ONLI
W 11:20 AM - 12:10 PM ONLI ONLI
Section 01
Th 10:20 AM - 11:10 AM BEBU 107
Section 02
Th 01:30 PM - 02:20 PM BEBU 107
Section 01
F 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM SCCE E110
Section 02
F 11:20 AM - 12:10 PM BEBU 107
This is preliminary information about books for this course. Please contact your instructor or the Academic Coordinator for the department, before attempting to purchase these books.
| Section(s) | ISBN | Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Comment | Book Store | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Gaming the Vote | Hill & Wang | Poundstone | TBD | |||
| All | Numbers Rule: The Vexing Mathematics of Democracy | Princeton | Szpiro | Free E-book | TBD | ||
| All | The Mathematics of Voting and Elections: A Hands-On Approach Second Edition 2018 | Hodge and Klima | Free E-book | TBD |