The Alice B. Dickinson Lecture

Thursday, 8 February 2001

Professor Paul Edelman

Department of Mathematics and School of Law
Vanderbilt University

Cooperative games, voting power and the Supreme Court

How do we determine which voters have the most power in a any given voting scheme? Social scientists often compute voting power by viewing the election as a cooperative game, and computing a power index. I will use this mathematical technique to measure power in two voting situations currently in the news: the Electoral College and the United States Supreme Court.
The talk does not presume any sophisticated mathematical knowledge, and is geared to a general undergraduate audience.

Tea: 4:00-4:00 pm
Mathematics Forum, third floor, Burton Hall

Talk: 4:30-5:30 pm
McConnell 404

Dinner: 6:30-8:30 pm
For students, faculty, and the speaker, at the the Hunan Gourmet in Northampton (transportation and cost of the dinner are provided). If you wish to attend, please sign up on the door to Patricia Sipe's office (Burton 317).

The mathematics department gratefully acknowledges support for the Dickinson Lecture activities provided by the Borie Fund, established in memory of Ellen Borie, class of 1966.