Behavioralism
Behavioralism-Different Approaches.
1. Works based on the collection of empirical data
from mass public opinion surveys. The
American Voter (1964), The Civic Culture
(1963).
2. Works based on economic reasoning that
provide models to understand empirical
political data. An Economic Theory of
Democracy (1957).
3. Works inspired on sociological approaches:
a. On aggregate data and class-based analysis.
Political Man (1963)
b. On grassroots micro-sociological analysis.
Who Governs? (1961)
c. On System Theory (Easton)
2. Works based on economic
reasoning.
• Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory
of Democracy (1957).
• Method: economic approach, which
assumed individuals are rational
• Rational behavior was understood as
directed by goals, based on selfinterest, and, in Downs’ analysis, related
to government selection.
• Foundation of the RATIONAL CHOICE
approach (today hegemonic).
“An Economic Theory of Political
Action in a Democracy.”
• Economic theory has not dealt satisfactorily
with the concept of Government.
• Government was assumed to maximize
social welfare, but ... “what reason is there
to believe that the men who run the
government would be motivated to
maximize it?” (136)
• Individual interests do not necessarily
coincide with social interests.
• Instead, “governors are led to act by their
own selfish motives.” (136)
A Democracy is a political system
in which:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
All adults are allowed to vote.
Every adult gets one vote.
Existence of at least two political parties.
Periodical elections.
A single party/coalition is chosen in each
election.
6. The party that gets the majority of votes wins.
7. Losers don’t prevent winners from taking
office.
8. Winners don’t attempt to wipe out the losers.
Axioms
• Political parties are teams whose
leaders seek office to enjoy benefits.
• The party that wins controls the
government.
• Government’s economic powers are
unlimited, but it cannot restrict the
opposition’s freedom.
• All agents are Rational
Main Hypothesis:
• “Political parties in a democracy formulate
policy strictly as a means of gaining votes.”
• Parties’ social function—to carry out policies
while in government—“is accomplished as a
by-product of their private motive—which is
to attain the income, power, and prestige of
being in office.” (137)
Other Hypotheses:
• Voters vote for the candidate/s they think will
give them more benefits.
• Government decisions are based on
marginal expenditure, that is programs are
expanded until the vote gain from each dollar
spent equaled the loss of votes resulting
from increased taxes.
• All parties must find out what the voters
want and compete to do it better.
• Parties must frame their discourse loosely so
as to attract as many voters as possible.
Problem: imperfect knowledge
fosters...
 Persuasion (exposure to a “biased selection of
facts”) Specialists/Gvt. Representatives.
 Ideologies (help voters to rapidly identify
differences between parties). Parties then
invent ideologies to attract voters
 Rational Ignorance (may lead to apathy, which
is very rational considering the costs of
information).
Downs anticipates the problem
of the “free rider”:
• In a democracy policies benefit all
citizens evenly. Thus, my own
participation do not increase my
gains, unless my vote is going to
decide the election.
• So, apathy and withdrawal from
political participation are rational.
Different Party Systems...
• Depends on the statistical distribution of the
electorate.
– If the curve is normal, it produces a two-party
system, with parties quite alike
– If the electorate is polarized, there will be a
two-party system with increasing differences
between the parties—each party gains more
votes the more differences it poses to the
opposition... Ultimately this leads to CHAOS
(continuous dramatic changes in policy)
– A multimodal distribution produces a multiparty system
In analyses such as Downs’,
once the premises are
accepted, there is no way of
avoiding the conclusions.
Typical Rational Choice
Dilemmas (Hardin 1968)
• Cold War: “dilemma of steadily increasing
military power and steadily decreasing national
security.” (1243)
• “How can I win the game of tick-tack-toe? It is
well known that I cannot” if I assume that my
opponent knows the game.
• “Maximizing population does not maximize
goods.”
• The “tragedy of the Commons”: in a pasture
open to all, each herdsman will add as many
animals as possible, until the grass disappears.
So, individual freedom contradicts the common
good.
Along the tradition of the
Civic Culture: Putnam’s
examination of the
American society.
• Robert Putnam’s seminal work: Making
Democracy Work (1993), a study of civic
culture in Italy.
• Main Problem: “What are the conditions for
creating strong, responsive, effective
representative institutions?” (p.6)
• Main influences:
– De Tocqueville’s emphasis on associations
– Almond and Verba’s concerns on political
culture and methods (IMPRESSIVE
fieldwork done for 30 years).
– Neo-Institutionalisms
Core Thesis:
• What lies at the core of sucessful and
enduring representative institutions is
civic associations.
• People’s engagement with civic
associations (i.e. Choral societies)
generates Social Capital (TRUST).
• Abundance and lack of social capital is
what characterizes the Northern and
Southern areas of Italy respectively.
Putnam:
• “Networks of civic engagement, like the
neighborhood associations, choral societies,
cooperatives, sports clubs, mass-based
parties... Represent intense horizontal
interaction [and] are an essential form of
social capital.” (173)
In Bowling Alone,
• Putnam described the loss of social
capital in the American society in the
last three decades.
– Use of surveys (= Almond and Verba)
– Questions on trust and participation
• (i.e. “How many people do you think you
can trust in case you have a problem?”)
In “Bowling Together,”
• Putnam evaluates the effects of
September 11 on American values and
civic habits.
• Surveys (n=500)
• Mid-October/mid-November 2001
• Comparison between 2001 and 2000
• Putnam finds CHANGE.
Results
• Increasing trust in both Federal and local
government, and in the police.
• Increase in people’s interest in politics and
people’s will to get involved with the
community.
• Americans trust each other more, too, even
accross ethnic groups and classes.
• These trends are more significant among
younger Americans (less than 35).
Civic solidarity  Social Capital
• “Civic solidarity is what Albert
Hirschman called a ‘moral resource’—
distinctive in that, unlike a material
resource, it increases with use and
diminishes with use.”
But...
• Trust in Arab Americans decreased
10%.
• Increasing opposition to immigrant
rights.
• “Attitudes have shifted more than
behavior”... “Will behavior follow
attitudes?”
Conclusions:
• “In the aftermath of September’s tragedy, a
window of opportunity has opened for a sort
of civic renewal that occurs only once or
twice a century.”
• Changes in attitudes and images are
important, but alone “do not create turning
points in a nation’s history. That requires
institutionalized change.”
– Challenge
Problems:
• What about PERVERSE forms of
social capital and trust, such as
those we can see in organizations
like the KKK, the SS, and mafia
groups?
• Putnam’s view of political life is
essentially a-political.
Questions:
• Aren’t these depoliticizing views of
politics?
• Doesn’t the political vanish?