Analytical Politics

This book reviews and explains introductory 'formal theory' in political science.

Melvin J. Hinich (Author), Michael C. Munger (Author)

9780521565677, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 April 1997

268 pages, 47 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.4 kg

' … an excellent introduction to formal theories of politics.' Ashley Piggins, Economic Journal

To 'analyse' means to break into components and understand. But new readers find modern mathematical theories of politics so inaccessible that analysis is difficult. Where does one start? Analytical Politics is an introduction to analytical theories of politics, explicitly designed both for the interested professional and students in political science. We cannot evaluate how well governments perform without some baseline for comparison: what should governments be doing? This book focuses on the role of the 'center' in politics, drawing from the classical political theories of Aristotle, Hobbes, Rousseau, and others. The main questions in Analytical Politics involve the existence and stability of the center; when does it exist? When should the center guide policy? How do alternative voting rules help in discovering the center? An understanding of the work reviewed here is essential for anyone who hopes to evaluate the performance or predict the actions of democratic governments.

Part I. Basics: 1. The analysis of politics
2. The models of Downs and Black: one policy dimension
3. Two dimensions: elusive equilibrium
4. Two dimensions: weighted Euclidean distance
5. Social choice and other voting models
Part II. Extensions: 6. Uncertainty and policy preference
7. The voting decision and collective action
Part III. Recent Advances: 8. Strategic voting, nonseparability, and probabilistic voting
9. Mass elections
References
Glossary
Answers to exercises
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA]