80-328 Voting Theory

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

Why bother voting? When does a social problem admit a good solution through a feasible voting mechanism, and when not? This undergraduate course discusses fundamental concepts in voting theory. We study formal and informal properties of rival voting schemes, including issues of constitutional design, voting paradoxes, and spatial models of candidates' and voters' strategic behaviors. We apply social choice theory to frame formal results: examining the Median Voter Theorem and Roberts Rules of Order as methods for choosing a Condorcet winner. We use historical examples to illustrate and inform our investigation: reviewing the evolution of the US electoral system for deciding Presidential elections. We contrast rival voting mechanisms through their varieties of tradeoffs among the qualitative and quantitative features that we associate with voting.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Fall 2026

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