Read more
The first textbook to present a framework of the Behavioral Political Science paradigm for understanding political decision-making.
List of contents
1. Living in interesting times: How can behavioral political science help us understand the current political moment?; 2. The rational actor model of political decision making; 3. The limits of human processing: Bounded rationality, heuristics and biases; 4. What you say may matter less than how you say it: The role of framing in political communication effects; 5. The limitations of the unitary actor model of government; 6. Feeling politics: How emotions impact attitudes and behavior; 7. The origins of political preferences: Material self-interest or personality, moral values and group attitudes?; 8. Better to be right or to belong? Motivated reasoning in politics; 9. Looking forward: How behavioral political science can help policymakers.
About the author
Alex Mintz is Former Provost and Director of the Program on Political Psychology and Decision Making (POPDM) at IDC Herzliya in Israel.Nicholas A. Valentino is Professor of Political Science and Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.Carly Wayne is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Washington University in Saint Louis.
Summary
The first text to integrate a range of psychological approaches under the paradigm of Behavioral Political Science, giving students insights into understanding political phenomena and events. Presented in nontechnical language and enlivened with a wealth of real-world examples.
Additional text
'Mintz, Valentino, and Wayne masterfully explicate the frontier of the science of political behavior, demonstrating how insights from psychology, economics, communication studies, and political science weld into a formidable set of theories essential to understanding how politics works – in general, across domains, and with particular applications to a range of contemporary issues. As experts whose own work has defined this frontier, the authors provide a singularly comprehensive and coherent explanation of how factors such as limited information, cognitive biases, identity, and emotions shape the beliefs and decisions of political actors, including voters, candidates, terrorists, and foreign policy makers. Any reader seeking to make sense of our dizzying political world will be engaged and enlightened.' Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University
