Democracy and Decision
The Pure Theory of Electoral Preference
Published on 13. March 1997
Book
Paperback/Softback
252 pages
978-0-521-58524-8 (ISBN)
Description
Do voters in large scale democracies reliably vote for the electoral outcomes most in their interest? Much of the literature on voting predicts that they do, but this book argues that fully rational voters will not, in fact, consistently vote for the political outcomes they prefer. The authors offer a theory of voting which they term an 'expressive' theory of electoral politics. This theory is shown to be more coherent and more consistent with actual observed voting behaviour. This important book offers a compelling challenge to the central premises of the prevailing theories of voting behaviour.
Reviews / Votes
"[This] book contains a number of fascinating discussions of political rhetoric, contract theories, political institutions, and democratic morality." Ethics "[This] book contains a number of fascinating discussions of political rhetoric, contract theories, political institutions, and democratic morality." Ethics "Whatever your methodological stance, if you are interested in electoral politics, this is a book worth reading. Unlike most positive political theory, sometimes seemingly intentionally written up so as to remain incomprehensible to most political scientists, Democracy and Decision is lively and well written. Because the ideas in it suggest potentially testable alternative models in so many substantive domains, it is also a great book to give to graduate students looking for thesis topics." American Political Science Review "Few topics are more important to maintaining a liberal social order than is the democratic political process, and few recent books are likely to do more to motivate fresh thinking on this process than Democracy and Decision." Public ChoiceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
5 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
415 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-58524-8 (9780521585248)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
1. Ethics, politics and public choice; 2. The logic of electoral choice; 3. The nature of expressive returns; 4. The analytics of decisiveness; 5. The theory of electoral outcome: implications for public choice theory; 6. From anecdote to analysis; 7. Interpreting the numbers; 8. Consensus, efficiency and contractarian justification; 9. Paternalism, self-paternalism and the state; 10. Towards a democratic morality; 11. Constitutional implications; Bibliography.