Principles of Politics

by Oppenheimer, Joe

• ISBN13: 9781107014886
• ISBN10: 1107014883
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-07-30
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Modern rational choice and social justice theories allow scholars to develop new understandings of the foundations and general patterns of politics and political behavior. In this book, Joe Oppenheimer enumerates and justifies the empirical and moral generalizations commonly derived from these theories. In developing these arguments, Oppenheimer gives students a foundational basis of both formal theory, and theories of social justice, and their related experimental literatures. He uses empirical findings to evaluate the validity of the claims. This basic survey of the findings of public choice theory for political scientists covers the problems of collective action, institutional structures, citizen well-being and social welfare, regime change, and political leadership. Principles of Politics highlights what is universal to all of politics and examines both the empirical problems of political behavior and the normative conundrums of social justice.

Table of Contents

Introduction: politics, universals, knowledge claims, and methods

The Logic of Collective Action

Voluntary contributions and collective action

Going beyond the prisoner dilemma

Collective action applications to and beyond democratic politics

Collective Choice

Individual to collective choice in one dimensional politics

Individual to collective choice more generally

Political Institutions and Quality Outcomes

Political necessity and the tethering of leaders

A few institutional pitfalls

Social Justice, Choice, and Welfare

The general problem of collective welfare and choice

Voting rules

Social welfare and social justice: a partial integration

Conclusion

Questions and lessons

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