Lecture 3 POLS 207 Outline of Last Lecture I Definition of Politics a Policy II What Type of Fairness III How should State and Local Governments Decide IV Anecdote a Scorpion and frog Outline of Current Lecture I Causality and Spuriousness II Rational Choice a Opposite of rational choice III Alternatives to Rational Choice Current Lecture Causality and Spuriousness Example Student A s favorite chocolate bar is snickers and then student B says that their favorite is snickers as well A causes or influenced B casual B causes or influenced A casual Coincidence spurious The snickers company markets students therefore being an outside influence C being company causes A and B spurious Spurious being driven by something else Rational Choice An individual makes decisions to maximize his or her own utility Opposite of a rational decision is an emotional decision Alternatives to Rational Choice Bounded rationality will discuss in more depth in later lectures Minimax strategy will discuss in more depth in later lectures Irrationality Make poor decisions under these conditions Emotions Addiction Etc Rationality relating to state and local government How do you construct a law if you don t take rationality into it Government attempting to change and train behavior through rational laws