POLS1008 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Social Choice Theory, Revealed Preference, Free Society
L11 MEASURING FREEDOM OF CHOICE – KEITH DOWDING
We assume freedom (or liberty) can be measured
- This law will restrict liberty
- Compare freedoms across countries
- Talk about the ‘free world’
E.g. Freedom House, … Institute
Freedom can be measured. How we go about doing it.
- Is Choice the same as freedom?
- Is Freedom of Choice the same as Freedom?
- We need to think about the meaning of freedom?
- And the meaning of choice
- Then about measure
- * Your are still free even if you only have one choice.
Preliminary Work
- in what sense is freedom valued?
- What precisely is freedom?
- *Freedom is valued.
oMight have instrumental value (competition allows more goods technological change)
In what Sense if Freedom valuable?
- Assumption freedom is valuable
- Is it valued in itself – intrinsic value
- Valued for some other reason – instrumentally valuable
- Valued for both reasons .
Welfarist (Bentham) – instrumental (increase utility)
Libertarian – freedom is valued in itself – intrinsic.
What is Liberty?
- Negative – freedom from constraints
- Positive – freedom to (rationally) act (Isaiah Berlin)
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- Republican – freedom from domination
Choice
- The faculty
of choosing
(‘a free
person is
one
capable of
choosing’) i
- The set of
alternatives (social choice = ‘opportunity set’) x
- The alternative chosen (social choice = ‘choice set) y
Suggests choice is not so different from freedom?
Separate the concepts for analysis
Do we value freedom in itself?
- Value an alternative more because it was freely chosen?
- Because it was chosen in an unconstrained manner
- Enjoy food more if choose from a menu, than if given exactly the same food?
- Idea of freedom just lack of constraints – we don’t like constraints?
oPeople are often happier when they lead regimented lives
- Do we value freedom for something other than choice?
- Lets consider choice first
*Some people say they want choice but when the time comes to choose they don’t want to.
Value of choice: Measurement
Intuition
- Adding alternatives to an opportunity set must increase freedom (choice)
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Document Summary
L11 measuring freedom of choice keith dowding. We assume freedom (or liberty) can be measured. * your are still free even if you only have one choice. *freedom is valued: might have instrumental value (competition allows more goods technological change) Is it valued in itself intrinsic value. Valued for some other reason instrumentally valuable. Libertarian freedom is valued in itself intrinsic. Positive freedom to (rationally) act (isaiah berlin) The faculty of choosing ( a free person is one capable of choosing") i. The set of alternatives (social choice = opportunity set") x. The alternative chosen (social choice = choice set) y. Because it was chosen in an unconstrained manner. Idea of freedom just lack of constraints we don"t like constraints: people are often happier when they lead regimented lives. *some people say they want choice but when the time comes to choose they don"t want to. Adding alternatives to an opportunity set must increase freedom (choice)
