Human Nature and Public Policy An Evolutionary Approach

by Somit, Albert; Peterson, Steven A.

• ISBN13: 9781403961167
• ISBN10: 1403961166
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The essays in this collection explore the implications that the growing challenge from "evolutionary" concepts of human nature have in various policyareas and show what must be done to ensure that policies conform to humanbehavior and its limits for change. As our conceptualizations of humanbehavior switch from one that says human behavior is a product of culture(through learning and socialization) to one that claims that behavior isthe outcome of both cultyre and genetics and biology, it is necessary for public policy to change as well. The contributors in this volume examine what happens when it is no longer possible to base policy solely on the basis ofculturally-constructed human behavior. Many argue that to ignore "nature" onbehalf of "nurture" will result in incomplete solutions to social, political, and economic problems.

Author Biography

Albert Somit is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Southern Illinois University. He has served as Executive Vice-President of SUNY-Buffalo and President of Southern Illinois University. He is a pioneer of biopolitics and founder of the International Political Science Association's research Committee on Biology and Politics.

Steven A. Peterson is Director of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. His areas of research interest include American Politics, Public Policy, and the relationship of biology to politics. He is on the Council of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences and serves as Vice-President and Secretary of the International Political Science Association Research Committee on Biology and Politics.

Drs. Somit and Peterson have co-authored or co-edited such volumes as Evolutionary Theory and the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2001), Research in Biopolitics (1996), The Dynamics of Evolution: The Punctuated Equilibrium Debate in the Natural and Social Sciences (1992), and, of course, their highly controversial Darwinism, Dominance, and Democracy (1997).

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction* The Standard Social Science Model versus the Evolutionary Model: Implications for Public Policy—Albert Somit & Steven A. Peterson * Reflections on Human Nature and Policy—Lionel Tiger * The Missing Dimension in Public Policy: Knowledge from the Life Sciences—Lynton K. Caldwell *Part II: International Applications* Human Propensities, War, and Self-Correcting Mechanisms—J. David Singer * Evolutionary Theory, the Origins of Ethnic Conflict, and State Building—Bradley Thayer * Implications of Legalized Euthanasia in Democracy: The Case of the Netherlands—E. L. F. Falger, M. R. Quirine, and V. S. E. Falger *Part III: Domestic Policy* Evolutionary Theory and Prostitution Laws—Michael McGuire & Margaret Gruter * Neuroscience, Free Will, and Individual Responsibility: Policy Implications—Robert Blank * Biotechnology Is Very Rapid Evolutionary Progress—Hiram Caton * Explore and Exploit: An Evolutionary Analysis of Institutional Dynamics—Paul Zak and Arthur Denzau * Evolutionary Theory and Criminal Justice—Lee Ellis * Evolution and Political Marketing—Gad Saad * MacLean’s Evolutionary Neuroscience: Some Clinical and Policy Implications—Gerald A. Cory * The Genetics of Altruism and Good Samaritan Laws—John Strate

Part I: Introduction* The Standard Social Science Model versus the Evolutionary Model: Implications for Public Policy—Albert Somit & Steven A. Peterson * Reflections on Human Nature and Policy—Lionel Tiger * The Missing Dimension in Public Policy: Knowledge from the Life Sciences—Lynton K. Caldwell *Part II: International Applications* Human Propensities, War, and Self-Correcting Mechanisms—J. David Singer * Evolutionary Theory, the Origins of Ethnic Conflict, and State Building—Bradley Thayer * Implications of Legalized Euthanasia in Democracy: The Case of the Netherlands—E. L. F. Falger, M. R. Quirine, and V. S. E. Falger *Part III: Domestic Policy* Evolutionary Theory and Prostitution Laws—Michael McGuire & Margaret Gruter * Neuroscience, Free Will, and Individual Responsibility: Policy Implications—Robert Blank * Biotechnology Is Very Rapid Evolutionary Progress—Hiram Caton * Explore and Exploit: An Evolutionary Analysis of Institutional Dynamics—Paul Zak and Arthur Denzau * Evolutionary Theory and Criminal Justice—Lee Ellis * Evolution and Political Marketing—Gad Saad * MacLean’s Evolutionary Neuroscience: Some Clinical and Policy Implications—Gerald A. Cory * The Genetics of Altruism and Good Samaritan Laws—John Strate