<P> William H. Riker articulates the standard public choice interpretation of social choice theory, arguing that Arrow's Impossibility Theorem "forces us to doubt that the content of' social welfare' or the' public interest' can ever be discovered by amalgamating individual value judgments . It even leads us to suspect that no such thing as the' public interest' exists, aside from the subjective (and hence dubious) claims of self - proclaimed saviors ." Thus, Riker defends a "liberal" conception of democracy, which centers on the role of constitutional checks on government . Public choice theorists have tended to share this approach . Buchanan and Tullock pursued this program in developing the field of "constitutional political economy" in their book The Calculus of Consent . </P> <P> More recent work in social choice theory, however, has demonstrated that Arrow's impossibility result can be obviated at little or no normative cost . Amartya Sen, for instance, argues that a range of social choice mechanisms emerge unscathed given certain reasonable restrictions on the domain of admissible preference profiles . In particular, requiring that preferences are single - peaked on a single dimension ensures a Condorcet winner . Moreover, many of Riker's empirical claims have been refuted . </P> <P> Public choice theory (sometimes called "positive political theory") applies microeconomic methodology to the study of political science in order to explain how private interests inform political activities . Whereas welfare economics, in line with classical political economy, typically assumes a public - interest perspective on policymaking, public choice analysis adopts a private - interest perspective in order to identify how the objectives of policymakers affect policy outcomes . Public choice analysis thus diagnoses deviations from the common good resulting from activities such as rent - seeking . In The Logic of Collective Action, Mancur Olson argues that public goods will tend to be underprovided due to individuals' incentives to free - ride . Anthony Downs provided an application of this logic to the theory of voting, identifying the paradox of voting whereby rational individuals prefer to abstain from voting, because the marginal cost exceeds the private marginal benefit . Downs argues further that voters generally prefer to remain uninformed due to "rational ignorance ." </P> <P> Public choice scholarship can have more constructive applications . For instance, Elinor Ostrom's study of schemes for the regulation of common property resources resulted in the discovery of mechanisms for overcoming the tragedy of the commons . </P>

Who contended that knowledge must be used to promote the public well-being