In this seminar, we will discuss axiomatic theories of social choice, including a discussion of voting methods and voting paradoxes. We will focus on recent work presenting alternative models of group decision making using lotteries, and in which voters can 'grade' candidates or delegate their votes. The topics that will be discussed this semester include:

1. Classic results of social choice theory: Arrow's Theorem and its descendants; May's Theorem and other characterizations of majority rule; Voting paradoxes;
2. Weakening Arrow's IIA condition;
3. Lottocracy, probabilistic social choice, and sortition;
4. Evaluative voting;
5. Proxy voting and liquid democracy; and
6. Deliberation and aggregation.

No previous familiarity with social choice or voting theory will be assumed.