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BestsellerE-book

Title A behavioral theory of elections / Jonathan Bendor [and others].

Publication Info. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2011]
©2011

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (ix, 254 pages) : illustrations
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-245) and index.
Contents Bounded rationality and elections -- Aspiration-based adaptive rules -- Party competition -- Turnout -- Voter choice -- An integrated model of two-party elections -- Elections with multiple parties -- Conclusions: bounded rationality and elections -- The computational model.
Summary Most theories of elections assume that voters and political actors are fully rational. While these formulations produce many insights, they also generate anomalies--most famously, about turnout. The rise of behavioral economics has posed new challenges to the premise of rationality. This groundbreaking book provides a behavioral theory of elections based on the notion that all actors--politicians as well as voters--are only boundedly rational. The theory posits learning via trial and error: actions that surpass an actor's aspiration level are more likely to be used in the future, while those that fall short are less likely to be tried later. Based on this idea of adaptation, the authors construct formal models of party competition, turnout, and voters' choices of candidates. These models predict substantial turnout levels, voters sorting into parties, and winning parties adopting centrist platforms. In multiparty elections, voters are able to coordinate vote choices on majority-preferred candidates, while all candidates garner significant vote shares. Overall, the behavioral theory and its models produce macroimplications consistent with the data on elections, and they use plausible microassumptions about the cognitive capacities of politicians and voters. A computational model accompanies the book and can be used as a tool for further research.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Elections.
Elections.
Voting -- Psychological aspects.
Voting -- Psychological aspects.
Voting.
Behaviorism (Political science)
Behaviorism (Political science)
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Added Author Bendor, Jonathan B.
Other Form: Print version: Behavioral theory of elections. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©2011 9780691135069 (DLC) 2010048445 (OCoLC)587248973
ISBN 9781400836802 (electronic book)
1400836808 (electronic book)
9780691135069
0691135061
9780691135076
069113507X
Standard No. 9786613163745