Syllabus for PSCI 4224:
A Weekly Course Outline.
Week
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
Week 1 Overview
Required Readings:
*Dixit and Nalebuff, Chapter 1.
*Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (PDF File)
- Commentary of Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons"
Week 2 Rationality
Required Readings:
*Shepsle & Bonchek, Chapters 1-2
*Downs, The Economic Theory of Democracy, Chapter 1 (pp.3-14)
Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior, Chapter 1
Week 3 Logic of Collective Action/A Return to the Commons
Required Readings:
*Shepsle and Bonchek, Chapters 8 & 9
*Olson, The Logic of Collective Action
Introduction (excerpts)
Chapter 1 "A Theory of Groups and Organizations" (excerpts)
Chapter 2 "Group Size and Group Behavior" (excerpts)
Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior, Chapters 2-3
Week 4 Generalizing the Commons Problem - Public Goods
Required Readings:
*Shepsle and Boncheck, Chapter 10
*Ostrom & Ostrom "Public Goods and Public Choices"
Ostrom, "A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action..."
Week 5 Electoral Competition I - Individual Decision Making
Required Readings:
*Downs, The Economic Theory of Democracy, Chapter 3, 14
Downs, Chapter 3 (excerpts) (PDF file)
Downs, Chapter 14 (excerpts) (PDF file
Hinich and Munger, Analytical Politics, Chapter 7
Week 6 Electoral Competition II - Government Decision Making
Required Readings:
*Shepsle and Bonchek, Chapter 5
Downs, The Economic Theory of Democracy, Chapters 2, 4, 5-9
Hinich and Munger, Analytical Politics, Chapter 2 & 3
Week 7 Voting Rules I
Required Readings:
*Riker, Chapters 1-3
*Shepsle and Boncheck, Chapter 3 & 4
Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior, Chapter 4
Week 8 Voting Rules II
Required Readings:
*Riker, Chapters 4-5
*Shepsle and Boncheck, Chapter 8
Week 9 Strategic Voting/Vote Trading
Required Readings:
*Riker, Chapters 6-7
*Shepsle and Boncheck, Chapter 6
Hinich and Munger, Analytical Politics, Chapter 8
Week 10 Real World Consequences and Implications
Required Readings:
*Riker, Chapters 8-10
Week 11 Two Person Games I: Zero-Sum
Required Readings:
*Dixit & Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically, Chapters 1-3 and 7.
*Hamburger, Games as Models of Social Phenomena,
Week 12 Two Person Games II: Mixed Motive
Required Readings:
*Dixit & Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically, Chapters 4-5.
*Hamburger, Games as Models of Social Phenomena, Chicken
William Poundstone, Prisoner's Dilemma, Prisoner's Dilemma
William Poundstone, Prisoner's Dilemma, Stag Hunt
Week 13 Two Person Games III
Required Readings:
*Dixit & Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically, Chapters 6 and 8.
*Hamburger, Games as Models of Social Phenomena, "Game Theory, Legal Theory and the Origins of Judicial Review" American Journal of Political Science. 38: 285-302. (JSTOR)
Game Theory Class Notes: Asymmetric NonZero-Sum Games
Game Theory Class Notes: Asymmetric NonZero-Sum Games (Apple)
Week 14 N-Person Games/Coalitions
Required Readings:
*Dixit & Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically, Chapters 9-12
Hamburger, Games as Models of Social Phenomena, Chapter 8
Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior, Chapter 4
Tiebout, A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 64 (Oct., 1956), 416-424. (JSTOR)
Week 15 Dilemmas and Solutions/Institutions
Required Readings: