Critical Review of ‘A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare’

Topic

Critical Review of ‘A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare’

Instructions

Please read “Welfare.pdf” and write a 500-word critical review.
Your review should include a summary of the paper, a critical assessment of its contribution and approach and it should critically explain its place in the literature.

Answer preview

Arrow explores (1950) examines the methods that determine how social choices are made mainly in capitalist democracies. The author draws a clear distinction between political decisions and economic decisions hence arriving at specific methods for each of the mentioned choices. The former emphasizes voting as a means of making decisions while the latter draws on market mechanisms. However, there exist other methods of social decision-making in other democracies in the world. For instance, in smaller social units certain individuals especially rulers make decisions on behalf of people.

Word count: 557