Mathematics and Politics Strategy, Voting, Power, and Proof

Steven Brams, New York University Alan Taylor’s book is carefully crafted. He is ever aware of his audience, but relentlessly presses the beginning student to understand more and more." -- Samuel Merrill III, American Mathematical Monthly This book is a unique and valuable source … Coverage is...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Taylor, Alan D., Pacelli, Allison M. (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: New York, NY Springer New York 2008, 2008
Edition:2nd ed. 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: Springer eBooks 2005- - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:Steven Brams, New York University Alan Taylor’s book is carefully crafted. He is ever aware of his audience, but relentlessly presses the beginning student to understand more and more." -- Samuel Merrill III, American Mathematical Monthly This book is a unique and valuable source … Coverage is thorough and extensive; ideas are explained clearly and at an appropriate mathematical level." -- Ed Packel, Lake Forest College "… Mathematics and Politics is a nearly perfect solution, either for classes or for the serious professional who wants to retool. … The writing is crisp, and the sense of excitement about learning mathematics is seductive." -- Michael Munger, Chance " I like this book. It’s nice mathematics with serious applications." -- John Ewing, Indiana University "Now we have, in Alan Taylor’s book, an introduction to these ideas that is delightfully lucid and requiresalmost no mathematical prerequisites." --
Mathematics and Politics requires no prerequisites in either subject. The underlying philosophy involves minimizing algebraic computations while focusing on the conceptual aspects of mathematics in the context of real-world questions in political science. This new addition has an added co-author, Allison Pacelli, and covers six major topics: social choice, yes-no voting systems, political power, game-theoretic models of international conflict, fairness, and escalation. In addition to having two new chapters (treating apportionment and conflict resolution), the text has been extensively reorganized and the number of exercises increased to over 300. EXCERPTS FROM REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION "Taylor has done a remarkable job of showing the power of deductive reasoning in … the strategic choices actors make in conflict situations … a penetrating analysis of both real-life and hypothetical situations." --
Phillip D. Straffin, College Mathematics Journal "[The book] breaks new ground and could stand as the definitive undergraduate textbook in this area for quite some time." -- Stan Wagon, Macalester College
Physical Description:XVI, 364 p online resource
ISBN:9780387776453