Man Is by Nature a Political Animal: Evolution, Biology, and Politics

by Peter K. Hatemi, Rose McDermott

• ISBN13: 9780226319100
• ISBN10: 0226319105
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

In Man Is by Nature a Political Animal,Peter K. Hatemi and Rose McDermott bring together a diverse group of contributors to examine the ways in which evolutionary theory and biological research are increasingly informing analyses of political behavior. Focusing on the theoretical, methodological, and empirical frameworks of a variety of biological approaches to political attitudes and preferences, the authors consider a wide range of topics, including the comparative basis of political behavior, the utility of formal modeling informed by evolutionary theory, the genetic bases of attitudes and behaviors, psychophysiological methods and research, and the wealth of insight generated by recent research on the human brain. Through this approach, the book reveals the biological bases of many previously unexplained variances within the extant models of political behavior. The diversity of methods discussed and variety of issues examined here will make this book of great interest to students and scholars seeking a comprehensive overview of this emerging approach to the study of politics and behavior.

Author Biography

Peter K. Hatemi is associate professor of political science, microbiology and biochemistry at Pennsylvania State University and a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Rose McDermott is professor of political science at Brown University. She is the author of numerous books, including Presidential Leadership, illness, and Decision Making.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction
Evolution as a Theory for Political Behavior	p. 13
Political Primates: What Other Primates Can Tell Us about the Evolutionary Roots of Our Own Political Behavior	p. 47
Formal Evolutionary Modeling for Political Scientists	p. 72
Modeling the Cultural and Biological Inheritance of Social and Political Behavior in Twins and Nuclear Families	p. 101
Gene-Environment Interplay for the Study of Political Behaviors	p. 185
Genes, Games, and Political Participation	p. 207
The Mind-Body Connection: Psychophysiology as an Approach to Studying Political Attitudes and Behaviors	p. 224
Hormones and Politics	p. 247
Testosterone and the Biology of Politics: Experimental Evidence from the 2008 Presidential Election	p. 261
From Scan to Neuropolitics	p. 273
Conclusion	p. 300
Index	p. 305
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.