State, Law and the Economy I

Week1: Some Methodological Issues and Collective Choice
Lectures 1 and 2 consider some specific concerns in applying economic analysis to the study of collective action, namely, (1) the rationality assumption, (2) the use of simplifying models, and (3) the problem of the fallacy of composition in studying collective action. Then we will explore the contractual nature of the state. We consider why the sum of individual choices is not collective choice. The reasons for collective choices are to achieve allocative efficiency and redistribution.

Week2: Pure Public Goods and Coase Theorem
Lecture 3 and 4 utilizes game theory to explain how the structure of payoffs characterizes political choices, including the provision of public goods. We then learn how market externalities can be corrected through collective action and consider the implications of the Coase theorem for public intervention.

Week3: Violence and the Origins of the State and Wisdom of Philosophers
Lecture 5 and 6 considers how the emergence of state institutions with human civilization has reduced violence and life loss. The purpose of moral and political philosophies, from Plato and Aristotle to Locke, Rousseau, and Marx has sought to find practical or ideal political arrangements where humankind can live together in peace and flourish.

Week4: Two Concepts of Liberty, Theory of Social Choice and the Theory of Democracy
Lectures 7 and 8 introduce two concepts of liberty: negative and positive liberty. The two interpretations of liberty are then related to liberal versus populist democracy through the application of social choice theory. We examine how when applied to voting and the design of political institutions, social choice theory provides a new perspective on the just society considered by political philosophers from Plato to Marx.

Week5: The Art of Political Manipulation
Lecture 9 studies how heresthetics—the use of rhetoric and strategic structuring of social choice—is used to achieve a desired political outcome. The example of Abraham Lincoln in ending slavery is used as an illustration.

第一週：方法論與集體選擇
第1和第2課是關於將經濟分析應用於集體行動研究的一些具體問題，即（1）合理性假設，（2）簡化模型的使用，（3）研究集體行動產生的謬誤問題；進而探討國家的契約性質；為什麼個人選擇的總和不等如集體選擇；集體選擇是為了取得配置效率和再分配。

第二週：純公共物品和高斯定理
第3和第4課利用博弈論來解釋支付結構如何突顯政治選擇，包括提供公共物品。 然後，我們將了解如何透過集體行動糾正市場外部性，並研究高斯定理對公眾干預的影響。

第三週：暴力與哲學家的國家和智慧的起源
第5和第6課關於人類文明國家機制的出現如何減少暴力和人命傷亡。 道德和政治哲學的目的，從柏拉圖和亞里士多德到洛克，盧梭和馬克思，都尋求找到實際或理想的政治安排，使人類能夠和平共存共榮。

第四週：兩種自由概念，社會選擇理論和民主理論
第7和第8課介紹兩種自由概念：消極和積極自由。 然後，透過應用社會選擇理論，自由的兩種解釋與自由主義與民粹主義的民主產生關連。 我們研究社會選擇理論如何在應用於投票和政治制度的設計上，為從柏拉圖到馬克思的政治哲學家所考慮的公正社會提供了新的視角。

第五週：政治操控的藝術
第9課引用亞伯拉罕林肯結束奴隸制的例證，研究如何利用修辭學和社會選擇的戰略結構來實現理想的政治結果。