We develop a formal theory of legitimate collective choice. In our theory a policy choice is legitimate if the process through which the final choice was determined is consistent with some principle that can be used to (perhaps partially) rank the potential policy choices. The set of principles in any choice situation is taken to be exogenous, but a decision-making process is defined so as to d...

Catalan's formula, for the portion of the inheritance that a legitimate child of a 19th-century deceased French gentleman should receive, is given a new proof (using Difference Operators), and generalized. Another, more computationally efficient, formula is also derived. Catalan's Formula Chrystal's classical text[Ch] (II, p. 416) contains the following charming exercise, due to Cata-lan[Ca]. B...