Democracy for realists Why elections do not produce responsive government

Christopher H. Achen

Book - 2016

Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government. --Publisher

Saved in:

2nd Floor Show me where

321.8/Achen
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 321.8/Achen Checked In
Subjects
Published
Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Christopher H. Achen (author)
Other Authors
Larry M. Bartels, 1956- (author)
Physical Description
xvi, 390 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-369) and index.
ISBN
9780691169446
  • List of Illustrations
  • Preface
  • Chapter 1. Democratic Ideals and Realities
  • Chapter 2. The Elusive Mandate: Elections and the Mirage of Popular Control
  • Chapter 3. Tumbling Down into a Democratical Republick: "Pure Democracy" and the Pitfalls of Popular Control
  • Chapter 4. A Rational God of Vengeance and of Reward? The Logic of Retrospective Accountability
  • Chapter 5. Blind Retrospection: Electoral Responses to Droughts, Floods, and Shark Attacks
  • Chapter 6. Musical Chairs: Economic Voting and the Specious Present
  • Chapter 7. A Chicken in Every Pot: Ideology and Retrospection in the Great Depression
  • Chapter 8. The Very Basis of Reasons: Groups, Social Identities, and Political Psychology
  • Chapter 9. Partisan Hearts and Spleens: Social Identities and Political Change
  • Chapter 10. It Feels Like "We're Thinking: The Rationalizing Voter
  • Chapter 11. Groups and Power: Toward a Realist Theory of Democracy
  • Appendix: Retrospective Voting as Selection and Sanctioning
  • References
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

Achen (Princeton) and Bartels (Vanderbilt) challenge the conventional theory of democracy that depicts rational voters providing mandates to the winners of elections. The authors demonstrate convincingly that this romantic folk theory cannot withstand empirical scrutiny. They argue that the idealistic folk theory of democracy fails because instead of voting on the basis of issue preferences, citizens choose candidates mostly on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties. They note that every presidential primary season "exposes the dangers of voter fatigue with familiar, experienced politicians and their enthusiasm for hopelessly unqualified but clever demagogues known only from a few television appearances." The book would be important if it merely debunked traditional theories of spatial and retrospective voting, but the authors suggest an alternative focus on the determinants of partisan attachments through social identity. They make a powerful case for a new agenda of research toward a realistic democracy theory based on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Their statistical methods are sophisticated and their writing is clear, concise, and appropriately whimsical on occasion. Certain to become a classic. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. --Robert E. O'Connor, National Science Foundation

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Why the theories used to rationalize our beliefs in democracy are broken beyond repair and must be replaced. "Conventional thinking about democracy," write Achen (Social Sciences and Politics/Princeton Univ.; co-author: The Statistical Analysis of Quasi-Experiments, 1987, etc.) and Bartels (Chair, Public Policy and Social Science/Vanderbilt Univ.; Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age, 2008, etc.), "has collapsed in the face of modern social-scientific research." The authors argue that rising inequality is a byproduct of this breakdown in the way democracy functions, and we desperately need reforms. Unfortunately, the demanded improvements are often unattainable, functioning merely as empty sloganeering. Inequality and insider power have increased over the years, and the politicians who benefit continue to expand their gains. Reformers often substitute increased emotional intensity of their demands for effective political strategies. Neither politicians nor citizens fully understand why this is so or how it can be addressed. As the authors note, campaign finance reform, reductions in income inequality, and the strengthening of equal protections would all be beneficial. Unfortunately, politicians are often not influenced by the people's will. Achen and Bartels combine a long-standing tradition of political criticism with intensive research into population behavior and beliefs. They show that results are not based on individual choices and deliberations but on notions of group identities. Citizens lack the time, inclination, and means to seriously consider issues that should be important but are usually ignored, and partisan loyalties shapeand are shaped byracial, ethnic, religious, and familial identities. "We believe," write the authors, "that abandoning the folk theory of democracy is a prerequisite to both greater intellectual clarity and real political change. Too many democratic reformers have squandered their energy on misguided or quixotic ideas." A comprehensive analysis that lays the foundation for a discussion of necessary reforms and how they can be achieved. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.