Cross-discipline of economics and political science which tries to formalize mathematically both positive and normative features of social decision-making. The modern Social Choice movement is largely descended from Arrow's Impossibility Theorem put forth by Kenneth J. Arrow in his book Social Choice and Individual Values (1951), although much the same thing was going on in the 18th and 19th centuries. Early practitioners included Condorcet, as well as Lewis Carroll.

Social Choice is concerned with such issues as:

Social Choice should not be confused with Public Choice, a completely different cross-discipline of economics and political science.

Besides Arrow, the most prominent current practitioner of Social Choice is Amartya Sen, who tries to get around the common difficulties with things like quasi-orderings, and considerations of freedom and capabilities in addition to utility.

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