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Solutions Manual for Analyzing Politics Rationality, Behavior, and Instititutions, 2nd Edition By Kenneth, Shepsle (All Chapters) Complete Guide A+
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Solutions Manual for Analyzing Politics Rationality, Behavior, and Institutions, 2nd Edition by Kenneth, Shepsle (All Chapters) A+
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Official© Solutions Manual for Analyzing Politics,Shepsle,2e
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By: seminckursula • 2 year ago
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Chapter 1. It isn’t rocket science, but … In short, the political science that a college student at the end of WWII might have
encountered was descriptive and judgmental
o It was much less oriented toward explanation and analysis
Not until 1960s that systematic attention began to focus on the questions of “why”
Models
o = stylizations meant to approximate in very crude fashion some real situation
o Purposely stripped- down versions of the real thing
Theory
o = an embellishment of a model in which features that are abstract in the model are
made more concrete and specific in the theory
o = specialized elaboration of a model intended for a specific application
Politics = the authoritative allocation of values for a society (David Easton)
Chapter 2. Rationality: The Model of Choice
Rational choice approach
o Aka formal pol theory, positive pol theory, pol economy
o Is a form of methodological individualism = the individual is taken as the basic unit of
analysis
There is nothing distinctly economic about rational behavior
Rationality
o Does not mean brilliant or all knowing
o People are neither all knowing nor worldy wise
o They have wants and beliefs, both of which affect their behavior
PRELIMINARIES
Preferences
o = individual wants
o Can be inspired by any # of diff sources
Self- interested = People who act in accord w their preferences
An individual’s conception of self is reflected in his or her preferences and priorities
The world of preferences and priorities is an interior world
, Complementing this interior world is an external environment in which people find
themselves This is filled w uncertainty
People often cannot choose the thing they want directly, but instead must choose an
instrument
o Choose the instrument that leads to the outcome preferred the most
o Bc of uncertainty the effectiveness of behavioral instruments for the things an
individual want is only imperfectly known
Beliefs
o = hunches an individual has concerning the efficacy of a given instrument or behavior
for obtaining something he or she wants
o Connect instruments to outcomes
o Come from a variety of sources
o May change as the individual acquires experience in his or her external environment
Instrumental rationality = acting in accord both w one’s preference and one’s beliefs
To sum up, …
methodological individualism
o it is taken as fundamental that individuals have beliefs and preferences
o these things are the stuff of human cognition and motivation
o groups, classes, firms, and nation-states do not have minds, and thus cannot be said to
have preferences or hold beliefs
MOTIVATION
Economics is concerned mainly w how 4 diff classes of actors choose to allocate what’s
theirs 1. Consumer, 2. Producers, 3. Worker, 4. Investors
The purpose of the economist’s assumptions
o The reason is scientific, not substantive
Corpus of scientific knowledge
o = a logically integrated collection of principles, a set of tools of inquiry (methodology if
you will) for prediction and explanation
Scientific knowledge is cumulative That distinguishes it from wisdom
THE SIMPLE LOGIC OF PREFERENCE AND CHOICE
Objects over which actors have preferences are called alternatives
xPiy
o person i prefers x to y
, o x is better than y acc to Mr i’s preferences
xIi y
o Mr i is indifferent btwn x and y
Thus
o Pi is i’s strict preference relation
o Ii is i’s indifference relation
Thus
o a choice is rational if the object chosen is at least as good as any other available object
acc to the chooser’s preferences
o an object is a RC if no other available object is better acc to the chooser’s preferences
Two underlying properties capture the commonsensical notion of rationality as ordering
things in terms of preference
o 1. Comparability: completeness
o 2. Transitivity
1. Comparability: completeness
o Alternatives are comparable if, for any pair of them, the chooser either prefers the 1 st
to the 2nd, the 2nd to the 1st, or is indifferent btwn them
2. Transitivity
o if i is indifferent btwn x and y and btwn y and z, then he is indifferent btwn x and z too
preference ordering
o if i’s preferences satisfy comparability and transitivity, then i has a preference ordering
ordering principles
o = preferences that permit rational choices
Not all relations are complete or transitive
o Some… ; Others…
Comparability
o You could push things far enough so that making a comparison in terms of preferences
would be absurd
o Real problem for it comes in situations in which the comparison doesn’t make sense to
the chooser
o Warning: advising appropriate use
o Choices must have meaning to the choosers if they are to be guided by principles
considerations such as those associated w rationality
Transitivity
o Requires that the chooser not be confused in a diff sense
o Warning: about the domain over which it is likely to be more or less relevant and useful
, o When the stakes are low, uncertainty is high, and individual choices are of little
consequence to the chooser, then inconsistencies are likely to be common
o Behavior is likely to be more random that rational, more arbitrary than principled
o But when choices matter to the chooser, he or she is likely to be more intent on being
consistent
THE MAXIMIZATION PARADIGM
The ass of comparability and transitivity yield an ordering principle (= …)
Rationality is associated w both this capacity to order AND an aptitude to choose from
the top of the order
maximizing behavior
o we think of rationality as consisting of this
o = individuals in soc situations are thought to be seeking some goal, pursuing some
objective, aiming to do the best they can acc to their own lights
ENVIRONMENTAL UNCERTAINTY AND BELIEFS
We should revise our idea of rationality, saying now that a rational individual chooses the
instrument or action he or she believes will lead to the best outcome
Certainty
o =…
o When there is certainty, rational behavior is pretty apparent: simply pick the action or
instrument that leads to your highest-ranked alternative
When the relationships are more complex, the principle of rational behavior requires
more explanations
Utility number
Risk
o =…
o Making a decision under conditions of risk involves choosing from among alternative
lotteries
A RC is involves choosing the best lottery
The rule of RC is known as the principle of expected utility
Rationality requires a chooser to select the action that maximizes expected utility
Uncertainty
o =…
o Under conditions of uncertainty, a chooser is sufficiently confused that he or she
cannot even figure out the likelihoods of various outcomes associated w each action
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