Introduction to Public Choice Theory (POL149)

This course will introduce students to the Virginia School of Political Economy. Commonly called Public Choice as contrasted with the traditional study of private choice in economics, Virginia political economy focuses on analyzing government actions as rational choices by self-interested actors. After a brief introduction to rational choice and market failure, this course will study topics including government failure, modern voting models, bureaucracy, rent-seeking, and constitutional construction. All topics will be complimented with foundational readings from the political economy literature. A particular focus will be on analyzing modern policies through the toolkit provided by Public Choice.