Math 89s - Game Theory and Democracy
Fall 2017
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:05 - 11:20 a.m.,
Physics 227
Important Due Dates:
September 14: Come to class with the first paragraph of your first paper.
October 5: Paper #1 is due.
November 30: Paper #2 is due.
December 7: Exam (in class)
Specific Instructions (for your two papers):
1. Pick a topic that interests you that relates to game theory, democracy, or both. The audience is your fellow classmates.
2. Make your topic very specific so that you have a chance to cover it in detail.
3. Find at least 3 major sources (academic papers, books) that you use in a major way throughout your paper.
Analysis
4. Be precise so that the reader understands your points. Define and explain terms that everyone might not already know.
5. Go to the library and talk to a librarian who can give you help finding sources.
6. Consider using Duke's Writing Studio, where you can find someone to help you with your paper.
Homework:
Thursday, August 31: Poll 15 friends on a controversial multiple choice question with 4-6 choices.
- Make the question controversial in the sense that you do not know
which choice will likely win, so that the results will be interesting.
- Make
a ballot (using Word, which you can printout 15 times) for
each voter on which you can record each person's first choice, second
choice, third choice, etc. for your question. If you want to interview
friends over the phone or over facebook, just fill out the ballot for
them.
- Bring the results to class on Thursday.
Tuesday, September 5: Analyze your poll using
- Plurality
- Instant Runoff Voting
- The Borda Count
- Instant Runoff Borda
- Worst Defeat
Also compute the margin of victory matrix and the Condorcet winner, if there is one.
Thursday, September 7: Analyze your poll using www.wevotehere.org.
Tuesday, September 12:
1. Email me 4 things:
1. Your blank ballot (scan it if it is not already digital)
that you gave each voter to fill out.
2. The spreadsheet of votes you entered into wevotehere.org.
3. The spreadsheet produced by wevotehere.org.
4. A short summary of your poll containing your survey question
and possible answers, the winners by each of the six methods (Plurality,
IRV, Borda, IR Borda, WD, Ranked Pairs), whether or not there was a
Condorcet winner, and a brief analysis of the election and which choice
is the most legitimate winner.
2. Make sure your name does appear in any of the documents you send me.
Delete your name, wherever your name appears. Also, delete any other
identifying information. This is to protect your privacy from random
people who view your election results on the web.
3. Use this PRECISE format for your file names, where you replace ABC
with your initials (or any 3 letter code that you want to represent you)
and you replace "Ice Cream" with a short title for your survey:
1. ABC_Ice Cream_Ballot.docx (or .pdf, .png, .jpg, ...)
2. ABC_Ice Cream_Votes.xlsx
3. ABC_Ice Cream_Results.xlsx
4. ABC_Ice Cream_Summary.docx
Tuesday, September 19:
Here are the two websites you'll need to communicate with Professor Giugni's class:
(1) https://duke.app.box.com
(2) https://sites.duke.edu/english89s_03_f2017/
1. Be sure to "Accept Invite" in the email I sent you. This will allow
you access to the english89s_03_f2017 folder within your box at website
(1).
2. Watch the videos that show up in the folder. These videos summarize what the other class has been learning.
3. At website (2), first click on the tab "Presentation Feedback
Guidelines" and read the information. Then click on the tab
"Presentation One-Machiavelli" and follow the instructions on how to
leave your feedback.
Leave feedback for this first video by class on Tuesday.
Tuesday, September 26:
Listen to the 2nd video made by
Professor Giugni's class and leave a thoughtful comment on the web
page, as you did for the first video.
Tuesday, October 5:
Please follow these precise instructions to turn in your paper by midnight tonight:
1. Do NOT include your name anywhere in the paper.
2. Your file name should have the form
ABC_Paper1_ThisIsMyBriefTitle.pdf where ABC are your initials. Do not
use any spaces, and capitalize the first letter of each word in your
title.
3. Email your paper as an attachment to bray@math.duke.edu.
Tuesday, October 18:
Read the textbook for the course that I
emailed to you. Try to understand the main ideas of the book, and pick
a couple of topics in the book to study in detail. Bring your questions
to class on Tuesday.
Tuesday, October 25:
1) Work any 6 problems from the
textbook (that I emailed you). The problems are located throughout the
textbook, so part of the HW is finding the problems. Continue skimming
the textbook.
2) Read 9 of your fellow students'
papers,
and write down comments (not to be turned in) for each paper. Think
about how you can make your next paper better by incorporating some of
the successful ideas used by your fellow classmates.