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Lädt ... The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies (Original 2007; 2008. Auflage)von Bryan Caplan
Werk-InformationenThe Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies von Bryan Caplan (2007)
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Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. http://pro-libertate.net/node/10 ( ) "Altrusim and morality have a consumption cost like any other..." There are two ways to look at Kaplan's work: 1. That this is a cynical work on political game theory that predicts the rise of Trump like figures. 2. That politcal economy, however unseemly, is a fascinating result of the electorate, politicians, media and so on attempting to navigate the fundamental irrational forces at work in democracy. Ultimately, Kaplan's point is often that markets, both economic and behavioural, trump idealogy in terms of what motivates policies. It's amusing that this book has been denounced as product of economic fundamentalism. Caplan is denouncing the very assumption of rationality that underpins so much of economic theory - which is pretty heterodox of him. And he's making the discussion accessible to general public, which is what one would expect political scientists to have done long ago. But political scientists have generally endorsed the idea of "one person, one vote" because they see it as more conducive to redistributive/welfare policies. Hence for the most part political scientists have confined their discussions of voter behavior to academic papers that journalists (or median voters; or entrepreneurial politicians) are unlikely to read. It took a Bryan Caplan to familiarize the general public with the notion of rational ignorance and to fully explore its most important implication, i.e., that perhaps we should consider restricting the franchise. That probably sounded like lunacy when the book first came out, back in 2007, but my guess is that now, after Trump's election, even political scientists might be a bit more open to the idea. An excellent economics/politics/psychology book. Author presents a coherent model for why people can (rationally) vote stupidly — basically, because it makes them feel good. Also extensively analyzes why people in their role as the electorate can have objectively irrational beliefs without hurting themselves too much, and why policies end up less bad than the electorate would otherwise demand. This is without a doubt the best book I've read this year, if not ever. Caplan delivers spectacularly on the title. Not only is it a rebuttal of the common view of economists that everyone always acts rationally, but it also strongly argues that humans are _particularly bad_ in the political arena. The book persuasively challenges many common criticisms of democracy: that most voters are stupid and only vote in self-interest, that bureaucratic inefficiencies are a bad thing, that politicians are mostly crooked, that low-voter turnout is a bad thing, and that democracies aren't very good at giving the people what they ask for. MY GOOD IS THIS BOOK GOOD. If you accept Caplan's premise, and evidently I do, the consequences he points out are staggering. "Get out and vote" campaigns are actively harmful to society. If you're running for office, you should in fact not keep your campaign promises. It's a delightfully different lens for looking at the world, and one which puts a lot more into perspective than I realized beforehand. keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Auszeichnungen
The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book. 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. Boldly 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 Americans' voting behavior and opinions on a range of economic issues, he makes the convincing 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 bold ways to make democratic government work better--for example, urging economic educators to focus on correcting popular misconceptions and recommending that democracies do less and let markets take up the slack. The Myth of the Rational Voter takes an unflinching look at how people who vote under the influence of false beliefs ultimately end up with government that delivers lousy results. With the upcoming presidential election season drawing nearer, this thought-provoking book is sure to spark a long-overdue reappraisal of our elective system. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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