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Title: Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory: A Critique of Applications in Political Science by Donald Green, Ian Shapiro ISBN: 0-300-06636-8 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: February, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (3 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: fun to read
Comment: As a believer in rational choice theory I believe this to be a useful book. Formal theorists in political science can benefit from its suggestion of research avenues that others in the profession would find interesting. They can also benefit from a better understanding of the threat some corners of political science perceive from the formal techniques of rational choice.
Reports of formal theory's death are greatly exaggerated. Non-formal types must keep that in mind as they read this, half of the "debate." Political science is a pluralistic discipline, and rational choice is here to stay. One need only examine article counts by subfield in any leading journal to conclude that.
Reading G&S's highly selective account of RC scholarship may suggest that that's a shame. The selectiveness of their account responsible for that is one of the drawbacks of the book. Empirically-motivated rational choice work is largely ignored. The fascinating RC-led debates on legislative organization, and the sources of party power, are not treated.
The approach of G&S is simply to look at some areas that have been problematic for RC, like voter turnout. The picture this paints of RC in general is nothing but an exercise in selection bias. As such the review is not exactly a balanced account.
That is to say nothing of the review they actually present, which in many ways is simply inadequate. For example, G&S would seem to believe that collective action problems are all "dilemma"-like situations leading to mutual non-contribution. In reviewing turnout they seem completely unaware of game theoretic models leading to positive turnout.
One common insult levied by anti-formal types is the "pseudoscience" card. If the derivation of testable hypotheses from logical analysis of carefully stated assumptions, and the confrontation of those hypotheses with data, is pseudoscientific, then formal theorists are guilty. But it seems to me that this approach may be the best way to make political science deserving of both halves of its name. At some point non-formal types ought to realize there's more to rational choice than the infamous Riker-Ordeshook "D term."
Rating: 5
Summary: Deals the cult a mortal blow
Comment: This book is an excellent debunking of the rat choice cult and its high priests. By using rat choices own methodologies, Green and Shapiro prove that the cult has been a monumental waste of time and highly destructive in pol sci/IR. A timely book that (hopefully) will kill off the pseudo-scientific pretensions of the cultists and open up the discipline to more informative approaches and theories. One can but hope that the cult's grip on hiring practices is about to be loosened.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Read for All Political Scientists
Comment: Whether you are a hard-core believer in RC theory or the most outspoken opponent of it, Green and Shapiro provide a provactive, well-researched examination of the ability of rational choice theory to explain political behavior. While decidedly anti-RC in their discussions, it is of immense value to those of us who favor rational choice theory as well. We need to face the facts (occasionally!) and give serious consideration to the shortfalls outlined in this book. In many ways, it presents RC theory in political science with a complete research agenda for the next decade, albeit unwittingly
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Title: The Rational Choice Controversy: Economic Models of Politics Reconsidered by Jeffrey Friedman ISBN: 0300068212 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups by Mancur Olson ISBN: 0674537513 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 1971 List Price(USD): $20.50 |
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Title: Designing Social Inquiry by Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, Sidney Verba ISBN: 0691034710 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 02 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: An Economic Theory of Democracy by Anthony Downs ISBN: 0060417501 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 21 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $47.00 |
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Title: Social Choice and Individual Values by Kenneth J. Arrow ISBN: 0300013647 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: October, 1970 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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