In this course, students will learn how game theory and empirical methods can be used to understand and think critically about pressing political issues. The course will cover four topics in political science and political economy. For the academic year 2022-23, the topics covered will be: 1) The two critiques of democracy (Weeks 1-3), 2) Populism (Weeks 4-5), 3) Discrimination (Weeks 7-9), 4) Autocracy v Democracy (Weeks 10-11).

During the lecture, students will be taught important papers on the topics covered. Seminars will be of two sorts. Five seminars will be devoted to game theory problem sets and five seminars will cover empirical exercises of the form of replication and critiques of published articles.