Rational Choice among Faculties

[Tirapol2526]

Hi everyone,

just a general question about rational choice: Which faculties do you think put a considerable emphasis on rational choice theory? From my expression I would say Stanford and Chicago. Moreover, do you think that rational choice is a "real cleavage" among faculties, for example if you get your PhD from a rational choice school, is it unlikely to get a job at a place without this focus?

Thanks for your answers :-).

[ipsqq]

In no particular order: Rochester, Michigan, NYU but there are more. I am at a vgood rat choice school and although I love it, I would say they are fairly dismissive of constructivists. If you don't like it, you'd probably be pretty bummed out in my program, for example.

[natofone]

Why Chicago?

In addition to Roch/Mich/NYU, I'd also say GSB (stanford) and CalTech.

[Penelope Higgins]

Depends if you want to do formal theory, or applied rational choice, and (less so) whether you want to do the latter in IR, comparative, or american. If you want to be a formal theorist, Rochester/GSB/Caltech/Princeton/Stanford are good choices. For applied formal, NYU, Stanford, etc. are good choices. Chicago would not be on your radar screen unless you had a sense that you could work with the folks at the Harris school like Ashworth and Bueno de Mesquita.

[lorinho]

Chicago would not be on your radar screen unless you had a sense that you could work with the folks at the Harris school like Ashworth and Bueno de Mesquita.

Both Ashworth and BDM hold courtesy appointments to the Political Science Dept, and BDM teaches the formal methods class for both Harris and the Political Science dept. In general, at Chicago, you can work with whomever you please, regardless of school or department.

[natofone]

Why not just apply to the harris school then? I don't believe that the poli sci department offers rational choice methods courses either, no?

[lorinho]

Why not just apply to the harris school then? I don't believe that the poli sci department offers rational choice methods courses either, no?

The way Chicago does it can be very confusing. Some of the professors have offices in Harris School, some in the Political Science building, but if they are appointed in the department, it is offered in the department. I am not sure what you mean by 'rational choice methods' but BdM does offer at least a formal theory course, and by far most of the teachers here have a rational choice model underlying their methods. That said, the methods course work is very hit or miss in terms of scheduling. So anyone who wants to be able to take five straight methods courses in the first two years, best make somewhere else their first choice.

Choosing between Harris and Political Science is also sometimes confusing. If you want a public policy degree, to go on and teach Public Policy or work in policy, then Harris is totally the way to go. However if you want a political science degree, then you should apply to the Political Science program. While some of the courses are taught by the same people, and are the same class, they are not the same program. The PhD. in policy requires more classes, and classes focused on policy (e.g. labor policy), while PoliSci requires your standard PoliSci class focuses, such as IR, Comp, American etc. (e.g. Cold War Political Theory) as well as different tests. As far as the teachers and the UofC are concerned, they don't care as long as you are smart and work hard, but when you go to apply to other programs, they will see you as a Political Science PhD (Academic) or a Policy PhD (Practical).

Bottom line, you would choose Harris over Political Science for similar reasons you would choose any policy focused program over an academia focused program.

[natofone]

Will a student get into Chicago's political science department if their statement states that they'll be doing rational choice and working mostly with Harris school faculty? That was more my question. Because unless students can apply to Harris by proxy of the political science program, it doesn't make much sense for the above student to apply to Chicago, no?

[lorinho]

Will a student get into Chicago's political science department if their statement states that they'll be doing rational choice and working mostly with Harris school faculty? That was more my question. Because unless students can apply to Harris by proxy of the political science program, it doesn't make much sense for the above student to apply to Chicago, no?

I am not faculty at Chicago, so this is just my impression: If you are talking about a Harris school teacher who holds a courtesy appointment in the department it definitely would not hurt you. People who hold courtesy appointments in the PolSci department are viewed and treated as being members of the department. In fact, most of the faculty are proud of the fact that people come to the school because they wanted work with people outside the department, and of the multiple appointments within the department. It is almost required that members of your committee come from other departments. And while your chair must be in the department, they can actually hold their primary appointment in another department. So your chair could be Martha Nussbaum, or Roger Myerson. I am almost certain if you had several people outside the department you wanted to work with, that were at any school here, it would actually be a plus on your application! (I have to retract something, somewhat. All of the faculty here talk about BdM as if he has a courtesy appointment in the dept, and his classes are crosslisted into the department, but on the website he doesn't show up, so I will have to back off that claim.)

Bottom line, don't think of Harris as a separate school. UofC does not think of it that way, so you are only handicapping yourself with a barrier that isn't there, here. If you want a Political Science degree, and you think that people at the University of Chicago defined broadly are teachers you would like to work with, apply to the political science department. Apply to the Harris school for the same reasons, if you want a Public Policy degree.