Rational choice

Cover -- Contents -- List of Boxes, Figuresand Tables -- Preface -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Political economy to economics -- The emergence of rational choice ( 1950- 1970) -- The take- off to growth ( 1970- 1994) -- A difficult decade ( 1994- 2004) -- Major combat operations are over? ( 2004-) -- Chapter 2 James M. Buchanan and ConstitutionalPolitical Economy -- Setting the stage: the state as an escapefrom Hobbesian anarchy -- Exchange and the constitutional framework -- Choice within rules versus choice among rules -- The Calculus of Consent -- Covenants without the sword -- Assessment -- Chapter 3 Anthony Downs and the Spatial Theory of Party Competition -- Setting the stage: the demands of democracy -- The precursors of party competition -- The median voter theorem -- Qualifying the argument: accounting for divergence -- Assumption 1: there are only two parties -- Assumption 2: political space is one- dimensional -- Assumption 3: parties can move to and occupyany point in this one- dimensional space -- Assumption 4: parties are vote- maximizers -- Assumption 5: voters vote for the party closestto them in political space -- Assumption 6: there is perfect information -- Assumption 7: voters' preferences are fixed -- Assessment -- Chapter 4 William Riker and the Theoryof Coalitions -- Setting the stage: choosing a voting system -- Riker and the theory of the minimal- winningcoalition -- Policy- seeking parties -- The portfolio- allocation model -- The transaction costs of policy agreements -- Assessment -- Chapter 5 Kenneth Arrow and Social Choice Theory -- Setting the stage: democracy and the public will -- The precursors of social choice theory -- Arrow: social choice and individual values -- Riker: liberalism against populism -- The possibility of social choice -- Assessment -- Chapter 6 Mancur Olson and the Logic of Collective Action.

Rational choice is the dominant theoretical approach in political science in North America and one of the main contending approaches elsewhere. This major new text provides a clear and accessible introduction assuming no prior knowledge and providing a uniquely fair-minded assessment of both the strengths and limitations of the approach. Truly international in scope and in its choice of examples, it provides broad-ranging coverage of the areas in which rational choice has been widely used and in-depth coverage of the main works of its key protagonists