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Politics as Rational Action

Essays in Public Choice and Policy Analysis

  • Book
  • © 1980

Overview

Editors:
  1. Leif Lewin

    1. University of Uppsala, Sweden

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Evert Vedung

    1. University of Uppsala, Sweden

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

Part of the book series: Theory and Decision Library (TDLU, volume 23)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xii
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  2. Political Trust as Rational Choice

    • William H. Riker
    Pages 1-24

  3. On ‘Normative’ Rational-Choice Theories of Politics

    • Michael Taylor
    Pages 25-38

  4. Various Meanings of ‘Rational Political Decisions’

    • Anatol Rapoport
    Pages 39-59

  5. Political Aspects of Economic Power: A Critique of the Market Concept

    • Robert J. Mokken
    Pages 61-81

  6. On the Significance of Language and a Richer Concept of Rationality

    • Knut Midgaard
    Pages 83-97

  7. Individual and Collective Rationality

    • Norman Schofield
    Pages 99-120

  8. Strategy and Reflexivity

    • Norbert Müller
    Pages 121-131

  9. When are Decision-Makers Irrational? Some Methodological Problems Related to the Analysis of Political Decision-Making

    • Barry Holmström
    Pages 133-151

  10. Explaining Rational Political Action

    • Björn Wittrock
    Pages 153-156

  11. Some Problems in the Study of Party Strategies

    • Gunnar Sjöblom
    Pages 157-168

  12. Housing, Building, and Planning

    • Sverker Gustavsson
    Pages 169-184

  13. Positions on Energy Policy: A General Framework and the Case of the Swedish Center Party in the Decision of May, 1975

    • Evert Vedung
    Pages 185-197

  14. Testing Coalition Theories: The Combined Evidence

    • Abram de Swaan, Robert J. Mokken
    Pages 199-215

  15. The Dilemma of Rational Legislative Action: Some Danish Evidence

    • Erik Damgaard
    Pages 217-236

  16. Implementation Analysis: The ‘Missing Chapter’ in Conventional Analysis Illustrated by a Teaching Exercise

    • Graham T. Allison
    Pages 237-260

  17. Back Matter

    Pages 261-275
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Keywords

About this book

One of the most promising trends in modem political science is the develop­ ment of a theory of politics as rational action. Focussing on choice as the central topic of study, rational choice theorists set out to specify what alter­ native an actor should prefer if he has some given knowledge of the conse­ quences of each alternative and wants to see his preference system as fully realized as possible. But rational choice theory is not confmed to the norma­ tive sphere of science. It can also be used for explanatory purposes. Then, the alternatives actually chosen are specified and the task is to explain the decisions by fmding out what considerations lay behind them. The starting point for an emerging research program at the Department of Government, Uppsala University, on 'Politics as Rational Action' is to describe the major choices in fifteen different policy areas of Swedish domes­ tic politics and explain why they were made.

Editors and Affiliations

  • University of Uppsala, Sweden

    Leif Lewin, Evert Vedung

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Politics as Rational Action

  • Book Subtitle: Essays in Public Choice and Policy Analysis

  • Editors: Leif Lewin, Evert Vedung

  • Series Title: Theory and Decision Library

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8955-9

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland 1980

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-90-277-1040-6Published: 31 May 1980

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-009-8957-3Published: 03 November 2011

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-8955-9Published: 06 December 2012

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XII, 276

  • Topics: Methodology of the Social Sciences

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