The Rational Public

Author : Benjamin I. Page
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226644804
Total Pages : 507 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Rational Public written by Benjamin I. Page and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-05-27 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monumental study is a comprehensive critical survey of the policy preferences of the American public, and will be the definitive work on American public opinion for some time to come. Drawing on an enormous body of public opinion data, Benjamin I. Page and Robert Y. Shapiro provide the richest available portrait of the political views of Americans, from the 1930's to 1990. They not only cover all types of domestic and foreign policy issues, but also consider how opinions vary by age, gender, race, region, and the like. The authors unequivocally demonstrate that, notwithstanding fluctuations in the opinions of individuals, collective public opinion is remarkably coherent: it reflects a stable system of values shared by the majority of Americans and it responds sensitively to new events, arguments, and information reported in the mass media. While documenting some alarming case of manipulation, Page and Shapiro solidly establish the soundness and value of collective political opinion. The Rational Public provides a wealth of information about what we as a nation have wanted from government, how we have changed our minds over the years, and why. For anyone interested in the short- and long-term trends in Americans' policy preferences, or eager to learn what Americans have thought about issues ranging from racial equality to the MX missile, welfare to abortion, this book offers by far the most sophisticated and detailed treatment available.

Author : Ilya Somin
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804789312
Total Pages : 277 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Democracy and Political Ignorance written by Ilya Somin and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-02 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Often, many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This may be rational, but it creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know. In Democracy and Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin mines the depths of ignorance in America and reveals the extent to which it is a major problem for democracy. Somin weighs various options for solving this problem, arguing that political ignorance is best mitigated and its effects lessened by decentralizing and limiting government. Somin provocatively argues that people make better decisions when they choose what to purchase in the market or which state or local government to live under, than when they vote at the ballot box, because they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information and to use it wisely.

Author : John Zaller
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521407861
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.69/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion written by John Zaller and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992-08-28 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 1992 book explains how people acquire political information from elites and the mass media and convert it into political preferences.

Author : Bernard S. Silberman
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226757374
Total Pages : 499 pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Cages of Reason written by Bernard S. Silberman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1993-06 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blending political, historical, and sociological analysis, Bernard S. Silberman offers a provocative explanation for the bureaucratic development of the modern state. The study of modern state bureaucracy has its origins in Max Weber's analysis of the modes of social domination, which Silberman takes as his starting point. Whereas Weber contends that the administration of all modern nation-states would eventually converge in one form characterized by rationality and legal authority, Silberman argues that the process of bureaucratic rationalization took, in fact, two courses. One path is characterized by permeable organizational boundaries and the allocation of information by "professionals." The other features well-defined boundaries and the allocation of information by organizational rules. Through case studies of France, Japan, the United States, and Great Britain, Silberman demonstrates that this divergence stems from differences in leadership structure and in levels of uncertainty about leadership succession in the nineteenth century. Silberman concludes that the rise of bureacratic rationality was primarily a response to political problems rather than social and economic concerns. Cages of Reason demonstrates how rationalization can have occurred over a wide range of cultures at various levels of economic development. It will be of considerable interest to readers in a number of disciplines: political science, sociology, history, and public administration. "Silberman has produced an invaluable, densely packed work that those with deep knowledge of public administrative development will find extremely rewarding." —David H. Rosenbloom, American Political Science Review "An erudite, incisive, and vibrant book, the product of intensive study and careful reflection. Given its innovative theoretical framework and the wealth of historical materials contained in it, this study will generate debate and stimulate research in sociology, political science, and organizational theory. It is undoubtedly the best book on the comparative evolution of the modern state published in the last decade."—Mauro F. Guillen, Contemporary Sociology

Author : Bill King
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781791678722
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Unapologetically Moderate written by Bill King and published by . This book was released on 2018-12-16 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2nd Edition Are you weary of the barrage of hyper-partisan spin that fills our public discourse? If so, Unapologetically Moderate is for you. This book is a collection Bill King's previous essays on a wide variety of political and public policy issues. Each essay is grounded the same fact-based, pragmatic approach for which Bill is known by his readers. It explores topics ranging from the demographic revolution sweeping the world to the pressing need for Social Security reform to the place of religious faith in politics. It is King's dispassionate, fact-driven approach to hot-button issues sets him apart from most political commentators seeking to score political points against their opponents. His clear explanation of complex subjects provides welcome perspective on topics that have become muddled by partisan interpretations.

Author : Bryan Caplan
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691138737
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Myth of the Rational Voter written by Bryan Caplan and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2008-08-24 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Caplan argues that voters continually elect politicians who either share their biases or else pretend to, resulting in bad policies winning again and again by popular demand. Calling into question our most basic assumptions about American politics, Caplan contends that democracy fails precisely because it does what voters want. Through an analysis of American's voting behavior and opinions on a range of economic issues, he makes the case that noneconomists suffer from four prevailing biases: they underestimate the wisdom of the market mechanism, distrust foreigners, undervalue the benefits of conserving labor, and pessimistically believe the economy is going from bad to worse. Caplan lays out several ways to make democratic government work better.

Author : Bryan Douglas Caplan
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780691129426
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.28/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Myth of the Rational Voter written by Bryan Douglas Caplan and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Caplan argues that voters continually elect politicians who either share their biases or else pretend to, resulting in bad policies winning again and again by popular demand. Calling into question our most basic assumptions about American politics, Caplan contends that democracy fails precisely because it does what voters want. Through an analysis of American's voting behavior and opinions on a range of economic issues, he makes the case that noneconomists suffer from four prevailing biases: they underestimate the wisdom of the market mechanism, distrust foreigners, undervalue the benefits of conserving labor, and pessimistically believe the economy is going from bad to worse. Caplan lays out several ways to make democratic government work better

Author : Rodrigue Bienvenue Nanfack
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
ISBN 13 : 3668185042
Total Pages : 16 pages
Book Rating : 4.43/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Logic and Effects of Rational Ignorance. The Theory of Public Choice written by Rodrigue Bienvenue Nanfack and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 3, University of Münster (Institut für Ökonomische Bilödung), course: Public Choice Theory, language: English, abstract: Many political failure arguments implicitly assume that voters are irrational. The main part of this paper is going to show that this assumption is plausible. This paper will show why voters prefer to be ignorant, what logic motivates this behavior, what effects this ignorance could or may have in election results. The focus of this paper is to try to understand what issue those behaviors may bring to electoral systems and to try to demonstrate what irrational ignorance really is. Josh Billings (in Caruth and Ehrlich 1988, P.205) said “The trouble with people is not that they don’t know, but that they know so much that they ain’t so”; arguing with this citation, we could conclude that rational ignorance does not happen because of a lack of information, but because of a voluntary refusal of being informed. The subject won’t be informed because he doesn’t see any use in this information. Rational ignorance occurs when the cost of educating oneself on an issue exceeds the potential benefit that the knowledge would provide. Rational ignorance can be found most often in the case of general elections, when the voter considers the probability of his vote changing the outcome to be pretty small. Those voters will definitely not cast their vote.

Author : Keith M. Dowding
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Preferences, Institutions, and Rational Choice written by Keith M. Dowding and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rational choice theory has gained considerable influence in politics and sociology over the past thirty years; the use of rational choice methods has proliferated in all areas of social inquiry. From the early days of formal proofs and unrealistic assumptions, rational choice is increasingly being used to model authentic situations and institutions. The collection of essays from leading British writers in the rational choice paradigm concentrates upon the two key aspects of rational choice: the role of preferences and institutions.

Author : United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.5A/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Nuclear Public Information and Rational Public Policy Decisions written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology. Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: