Daily Assignments
Week 1: August 24 – 28
August 24: Mathematical Reasoning
- Section 0 of the notes
- A fun article on cases of weird legal terminology
- Slides
August 26: Voting Systems
- Section 1.1 of the notes
Week 2: August 31 – September 4
August 31: Two-Candidate Elections
- Sections 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 of the notes
September 1: Homework 1 Due
September 2: Criteria for Voting Systems
Week 3: September 7 – 11
September 7: No Class for Labor Day
September 8: Homework 2 Due
September 9: Multi-Candidate Criteria
- Quiz 1 today
- Section 1.3 of the notes
Week 4: September 14 – 18
September 14: Theorems on Voting System Criteria
September 15: Homework 3 Due
September 16: Evaluating Voting Systems I
- Continue section 1.4 of the notes, through Copeland’s method
Week 5: September 21 – 25
Week 6: September 28 – October 2
September 28: Test 1 on Voting
- Rules
- Plan to take the whole class
- Will have 6-7 questions
- Bring a one-sided handwritten note sheet
- You can bring a calculator but it probably won’t be useful
- Topics
- Two-candidate methods and criteria
- Multi-candidate methods and criteria
- Short proofs and counter-examples
- Drawing conclusions from criteria
- Read the solutions to Quiz 1
- Read the solutions to Quiz 2
- Before the midterm on Monday September 29, I recommend you work on the following problems in the textbook. All are odd-numbered and thus have solutions in the back of the book. You do not need to submit them to us.
- 1.1
- 1.7
- 2.3
- 2.5
- 3.7
- 3.9
- 4.1
- 4.5
- 5.3
September 29: No Homework Due
September 30: The Problem of Apportionment
- Read section 2.1 of the notes
Week 8: October 5 – 9
October 5: Hamilton’s Method
October 6: Homework 5 Due
October 7: Jefferson’s Method
- Read sections 2.2.2-2.2.3 of the notes
- We talked about the two amendments that didn’t make it into the Bill of Rights. Here is a fun Substack post about them.
Week 8: October 12 – 16
October 12: No Class for Fall Break
October 13: Homework 6 Due
October 14: Divisor Methods
- Read section 2.2.4 of the notes
- Quiz 3 today
- Hamilton’s method
- Jefferson’s method
- basic criteria and paradoxes
Week 9: October 19 – 23
Week 10: October 26 – 30
October 26: Apportionment Methods and Impossibility
- Read section 2.3.4-2.3.5 of the notes
- Quiz 4 today
- Bring a one-sided handwritten note sheet
- You can and should bring a calculator
October 27: Homework 8 Due
October 28: The Best Apportionment Methods
- Skim section 2.4 and read section 2.5 of the notes
Week 11: November 2 – 6
November 2: Test 2 on Apportionment
- Read the solutions to Quiz 3
- Read the solutions to Quiz 4
- No homework due today
- Rules
- Plan to take the whole class
- Will have 6-7 questions
- Bring a one-sided handwritten note sheet
- You can and should bring a calculator
- Topics
- Hamilton’s method and Lownde’s method
- Divisor Methods and Critical Divisors
- Short proofs relating criteria
- Understanding criteria and which methods satisfy which criteria
- Interpreting simple algebraic formulas
- Before the midterm, I recommend you work on the following problems in the textbook. All are odd-numbered and thus have solutions in the back of the book. You do not need to submit them to us.
- 7.5
- 7.7
- 8.3
- 8.9
- 8.13
- 9.1
- 9.5
- 11.5
November 3: No Homework
November 4: Zero-Sum Games
- Read section 3.1.1–3.2.1 of the notes
Week 12: November 9 – 13
Week 13: November 16 – 20
Thanksgiving Break: November 23-27
No class! Happy Thanksgiving!
Week 14: November 30 – December 4
Week 15: December 7 – 9
December 7: Some Important Games
- Quiz 6 today
- Read section 3.4.3 of the notes
December 8: Homework 12 Due
December 9: Class Choice: Gerrymandering or the Electoral College
- Vote on which topic you’d prefer to hear about!
- If you want your vote to be counted, please vote by the end of Wednesday, December 2.
- Neither topic will appear on the final exam; you should choose the one you’re more interested in learning about.
Finals Week
Reading Days
- Bonus reading: Fun article on why Spirit Airlines went bankrupt using a game theory lens, and touching on some of the ideas we talked about in apportionment theory as well.
Office Hours Schedule
- TBD closer to finals week
Final Exam as scheduled by registrar
- Tentatively Monday, December 14, 12:40–2:40 PM
- Consult the registrar’s schedule page for updates
- In the usual classroom
- Exam Structure:
- Expect about ten questions
- Bring a two-sided handwritten note sheet
- You can bring a calculator, and should
- 1-2 questions on voting
- 1-2 questions on apportionment
- Remaining questions on game theory
- Practice Problems:
- 13.7
- 13.11
- 14.3
- 14.7
- 14.9
- 15.1
- 15.7
- 16.1
- 16.3
- 16.7
- 18.1
- Read the solutions to Quiz 5
- Read the solutions to Quiz 6
Syllabus
Course notes
- Course Notes
- Section 0: Mathematical Reasoning
- Section 1: Voting
- Section 2: Apportionment
- Section 3: Conflict
Homework
Tests
- Test 1 on September 28
- Test 2 on November 2
- Final Exam
- As scheduled by the registrar
- Tentatively Monday, December 14, 12:40–2:40 PM
- Per the syllabus, you will not be excused from the final if you schedule travel during finals week; if you must buy your plane ticket before the registrar announces final exam, please make sure it departs after Thursday, December 17.
Calculators will be allowed on quizzes and tests. I particularly encourage you to bring a calculator for tests during unit 2, on apportionment.
For all in-class assignments, I will allow you to bring a cheat sheet you have made. You must physically write on the sheet of paper you bring in; no printouts will be allowed. For quizzes and midterms I will allow a one-sided cheat sheet, and for the final I will allow a two-sided cheat sheet.
Textbook
The official textbook for Math 1007 is The Mathematics of Politics, Second Edition by E. Arthur Robinson and Daniel H. Ullman. It should be available free online through the library website, and you can buy a hard copy for under $50 if you wish. I will be expecting you to read sections of the textbook and assigning problems out of it.