Is there a “common good”? Is there “a will of the people”? Can it be revealed by democratic procedures? The course will focus on these fundamental questions through the lens of social choice theory. In his highly influential book ‘Liberalism against Populism’ William Riker argues that democratic decisions are chaotic, meaningless, and arbitrary. The seminar consists of two parts. In the first part of the seminar we will examine Riker’s line of argumentation in detail. In the second part we will analyse alternatives from democratic theory trying to defend democracy against Riker’s pessimistic interpretation of social choice theory.