Course for international guest/part time students

Faculty

Faculty of Law

Organization

ÁJTK Institute of Political Sciences

Code

JNx_ERASMUS:D34

Title

Political Game Theory

Usual semester

Both

Published semester

2025/26/2

ECTS

5

Language

en

Description

A Short Course Description: In our everyday life we often meet the problem how individual and collective interests are in conflict. For example, when we take a drive to a traffic jam in rush hours, and thus we cause a waste of time to the others than that of our own gain. When we decide how to behave, we take into account how other players behave, not only because we care about other people but because it affects what we get out of the interaction. Game theory is a systematic study of this strategic interaction. This course is an introduction to game theory, the study of strategic behaviour among parties having opposed, mixed or similar interests. It presents the basic concepts and analytical tools of elementary game theory in a way that allows the student to apply them in real life situations. Strategic interactions are present everywhere, in computer science, economics, politics, law, and at the end of the day we don’t make decisions in a vacuum, we live in society. The goal of the course is to give an insight into the formal ways of thinking about social mechanisms and interactions. At the end of the course the student should be able to formalize a strategic situation as a well-defined game; choose appropriately from a basic kit of analytic tools, called solution concepts, to analyze and solve a wide variety of games and applications; understand the assumptions underlying these concepts, as well as their strengths and limitations; students should be able to think strategically and recognize a strategic interaction in real life situations. They should be able to formalize the situation, frame it in terms of the analytical tools discussed, and understand the strategies followed by the protagonists of such interaction. There are no formal prerequisites for the course, but some aptitude for logical reasoning and basic maths are recommended. For more information, check out the homepage of the course: http://malikdolgozat.uw.hu/gametheory.html

Learning outcomes

A képzés célja olyan politológusok képzése, akik ismereteket szereznek a társadalom politikai rendszerére és viszonyaira, azok főbb törvényszerűségeire, a politikai intézményekre, a politikai hatalom szervezetére és azok működésére vonatkozóan.

Course content

Tantárgy neve Political Game Theory Képzés- tagozat: Nappali jogász, politológus BA, MA, Erasmus Tantárgy kreditszáma: 2 Tantárgyfelelős: Dr. Málik József Zoltán Számonkérési forma: Gyak.jegy (5) Erős előfeltétel: - Gyenge előfeltétel/társfeltétel: angol nyelvtudás Kapcsolódik-e hozzá gyakorlat/szeminárium? nem Előadások tematikája: 1.       hét: Bevezető 2.      hét: Game Theory as a method to explore social situations 3.      hét: Games and Decisions 4.      hét: How to decide in games? 5.      hét: The Types of Players 6.      hét: How to Solve Games? 7.      hét: Solving a game in mixed strategies 8.      hét: Conflicts 9.      hét: Intensive conflicts as zero-sum games 10.   hét: Coordination Mechanisms 11.    hét: Cooperative Games 12.   hét: Negotiations 13.   hét: Final exam Tananyag: A tantárgy tananyagát (és egyben vizsgaanyagát) képezik az előadásokon elhangzottak teljes egészükben. Kötelező és ajánlott irodalom: At the end of the course i) the student should be able to formalize a strategic situation as a well-defined game; ii) choose appropriately from a basic kit of analytic tools, called solution concepts, to analyze and solve a wide variety of games and applications; iii) understand the assumptions underlying these concepts, as well as their strengths and limitations; iv) students should be able to think strategically and recognize a strategic interaction in real life situations. They should be able to formalize the situation, frame it in terms of the analytical tools discussed, and understand the strategies followed by the protagonists of such interaction. Vizsgakövetelmények: The Goal of the Course:  At the end of the course i) the student should be able to formalize a strategic situation as a well-defined game; ii) choose appropriately from a basic kit of analytic tools, called solution concepts, to analyze and solve a wide variety of games and applications; iii) understand the assumptions underlying these concepts, as well as their strengths and limitations; iv) students should be able to think strategically and recognize a strategic interaction in real life situations. They should be able to formalize the situation, frame it in terms of the analytical tools discussed, and understand the strategies followed by the protagonists of such interaction. Egyebek: -

Assessment method

Vizsgakövetelmények: The Goal of the Course: At the end of the course i) the student should be able to formalize a strategic situation as a well-defined game; ii) choose appropriately from a basic kit of analytic tools, called solution concepts, to analyze and solve a wide variety of games and applications; iii) understand the assumptions underlying these concepts, as well as their strengths and limitations; iv) students should be able to think strategically and recognize a strategic interaction in real life situations. They should be able to formalize the situation, frame it in terms of the analytical tools discussed, and understand the strategies followed by the protagonists of such interaction.

Bibliography

Kötelező és ajánlott irodalom:At the end of the course i) the student should be able to formalize a strategic situation as a well-defined game; ii) choose appropriately from a basic kit of analytic tools, called solution concepts, to analyze and solve a wide variety of games and applications; iii) understand the assumptions underlying these concepts, as well as their strengths and limitations; iv) students should be able to think strategically and recognize a strategic interaction in real life situations. They should be able to formalize the situation, frame it in terms of the analytical tools discussed, and understand the strategies followed by the protagonists of such interaction.

Programmes of the course