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Summary of RCT: Lectures and Readings
comprehensive summary of lectures and readings
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Voorbeeld 4 van de 42 pagina's
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Rational Choice Theory Summary1. Introduction to Rational Choice Theory
Part 1
Course structure
o 1. Introduction: history and a very brief intro to rational choice
o 2. Building blocks: preferences, utility, rationality
o 3. Group analysis: Condorcet paradox, cyclic majority
o 4. Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem
o 5. Spatial Modelling
o 6. Game theory: Nash, PD games
o 7. Collective action: Olsen, Ostrom, public goods
o 8. Application of RC in IR
Connection to other courses
o Rational choice theory is not a separate field of political science, such as international
relations, comparative politics, political philosophy…
Note: there is a discussion how many ‘core fields’ we have in Pol. Sci.
o It functions as a ‘lens’: you can approach issues and questions in these fields with the help of
rational choice
o Consequently, one finds a lot of overlap with other courses
IR and RCT: Thomas Shelling, security dilemma, the decision to join armed groups or
to protest (or not)
CP and RCT: Voting (rational or not), party politics, Hotelling’s model, vote
aggregation
IPE an RCT: issues of collective action
Part 2
Where did it all start?
o Pol. Sci. at the end of WWII
Thick descriptions
Summary of how institutions worked & focus on their historical development
For example, how does the parliament work, how does Congress work…
Normative component: many judgements were made about how they worked
Judgements were not scientifically proven
Pol. Sci. was descriptive and judgmental rather than analytical (the “why” question)
o Pol. Sci. 1950s-1970s:
Behaviouralism
It emphasized an objective, quantified approach to explain and predict
political behaviour – the ‘why’ questions
Started to systematically collect information and find empirical regularities (inductive
reasoning)
Why do democracies rarely go to war against other democracies?
Why do countries that have PR systems have generally more parties?
At the same time: “economic imperialism”:
Trying to apply economic methods to a variety of topics outside the traditional
purview of economics
Immense impact on the discipline of pol. sci.
o The take-off growth (1970-1994):
The combination of economic models and politics lead to RCT
RCT began to attract many adherents
RC concepts and techniques were applied to an ever-growing number of topics
Many books and journal articles that used RCT were written and published in different
fields of pol. sci.
Around 1990s: more than 40% of the articles published in APSR used RCT
And now?
Problems started:
One important finding: rational choice scholars showed that state intervention
in the market was likely to fail
This in contrast to many economist findings that were in favour for state
intervention to balance out market failure
1
, Many rational choice scholars were consequently used by neoliberal politicians
Created a lot of hostilities between rational choice scholars and other political
scientists!
o Difficulties arise (1994-2004):
Opposition to RCT grew significantly…
Major problems came with the publications of Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory
by Donald Green and Ian Shapiro (1994)
There main claim was that RCT has not yielded empirically useful results:
“The discrepancy between the faith that practitioners place in rational choice
theory and its failure to deliver empirically warrants closer inspection of
rational choice theorizing as a scientific enterprise” (Green and Shapiro 1994:
6-7).
Much of the uproar surrounding the book seems to have been motivated as much by
its confrontational tone as by its substance
Reactions by rational choice scholars:
M. Fiorina: “working in the vineyards of political science for 25 years, [and] the
bulk of that work is empirical. How could it have prospered otherwise?”
K. Shepsle: “Don’t let go of something until you have something else to hold
on to.”
At the theoretical level, it has neither led to a dismissal of rational choice approaches
in this discipline nor to a complete reorientation
At the empirical level, the book has made rational choice scholars more attentive to
empirical evaluations of their theories
Under the heading of “Empirical implications of theoretical models” (EITM)
o RCT in current scholarship:
RC has not swallowed pol. sci. but it has not at all disappeared
It still shapes the pol. sci. research agenda
Especially in the US
You can find application in comparative politics, international relations, …
In the upcoming weeks, we will discuss ‘the classics’
In the last session, we will discuss some more subtle applications of RCT
Part 3
Short introduction to RCT
o Has many different names: rational choice approach, formal political theory, rational choice
theory, positive political theory, and sometimes even political economy
o Some even argue that it is the methods of economics to the study of politics (Mueller 2003:
1)
o Deductive reasoning rather than inductive
We start with a set of a priori assumptions
o We make general models based on these common assumptions
o These models we use to predict individual and group behaviour
But is this realistic?
What is the opinion of Green and Shapiro (1994) about these assumptions?
Rational Choice models
o Models are based on these a priori assumptions
o These assumptions are very clear presented
o They are abstractions (or simplifications) of the
political world
If the assumptions are true, what would
the political world look like?
o We test the implications of these rational choice models with real life information
Making assumptions…
o So, unlike many other approaches, rational choice makes assumptions very clear from the
beginning!
Applying RC models
o Two things can happen when we employ these RC models:
1. We find evidence that supports our theory
Our assumptions appear to be correct
2. We find evidence that contradicts our theory
2
, At least one of our assumptions is wrong
We can often learn more about the world when rational choice theories and assumptions are
o
wrong, than we can when they are right!
Assumptions
o RC are based upon a set of a priori assumptions
o Where do these assumptions come from?
Anywhere!
For example: we assume that politicians care about votes or that they care about
making society a better place, or even that they care about making their parents
happy by having a successful career in politics
We can make many assumptions about political actors!
This makes rational choice so versatile!
o However, there are some assumptions that all rational choice theories have in common:
Methodological individualism
Rational behaviour and utility maximization
2. Building Blocks of Rational Choice Theory. Part 1.
Part 1: rationality and preferences
Methodological Individualism
o One major assumption of rational choice is that of methodological individualism:
o The unit of analysis is the individual person
What does this mean?
Even group actions, such as protests, are explained by the actions of individuals
o This is contrast to theories that take the group as the unit of analysis
Examples?
Rationality / Irrationality
o Case of Saddam Hussein (former President of Iraq)
He killed many people because he believed they were traitors
Personally shot members of his cabinet
Used gas to kill the Kurds living in Iraq
Killed many family members and journalists
o Many people argue that he was “irrational”
o However, this term can have several connotations:
“not the best way to get what you want”
“crazy”
“I would do something else”
“Unpredictable”
not “brilliant” or not “all-knowing”
o In RCT, rationality has only one meaning
o In the most basic sense, rational choice states that:
Individuals has goals or desires
Individuals act in accordance with those goals and desires
o Individuals wants (goals/desires), we call preferences
We prefer to get a good grade for this course
We prefer a warm shower in the morning
We prefer to get a well-paid job
o Where do these preferences come from?
Survival
Reproduction
Socially acquired
o RC does not care about where they come from and why people want certain things (no
judgment; at least not in terms of rationality)
Preferences
o What individuals want and desire (preferences) are given
3
, o This does not change much (in the short run)
o It does not really matter where these preferences come from
o We do not know the preferences of others; we only know our own preferences.
However, we make assumptions about the preferences of others!
Self-interested vs selfish
o If an individual has preferences and act in accordance to these preferences, we call the
individual rational and self-interested
Note: rationality is directly related to the individual’s action!
o People pursue what they find important i.e. they pursue their preferences
o Preferences can of course include empathy for family and friends, animals, environment, ...
o Self-interest does not automatically mean selfish!
You brush your teeth. It is certainly in your self-interest to do so (and your friends and
family thank you, too). But is brushing your teeth a selfish act?
Thick vs thin
o Thus far we have said that individuals are rational if they have goals and act in accordance
to these goals
o But it gets a bit more complicated (of course):
o Thin version of rationality: we do not make any assumptions about an individual’s goal. We
only know s/he has goals
o Thick version of rationality: we make more explicit assumptions about the goals of
individuals
Examples?
The goal of political parties is to get into government
The goal of politicians is to receive as many votes as possible
o Certain theories use the thin version, while other rational choice theories use the think
version
More formally
o i is the term that denotes the individual
o x, y, z denotes the preferences that an individual i has
For instance: x = fish, y = meat, and z = vegetarian
For instance: x = Peter, y = Paul, and z = Pablo
For instance: x = France, y = Greece, and z = Zanzibar
For instance: x = Maria, y = Mary, and z = Magda
o x Pi y means individual i prefers option x to y
Option x is better than y
P means > (greater than / preferred)
o x Ii y means individual i is indifferent between option x and y
Option x is not preferred above y
Option y is not preferred above x
I means = (equal to)
Examples
o x Pi y Pi z
Individual i prefers option x over y and y over z
x = Peter, y = Paul, and z = Pablo
Individual i prefers to date Peter over Paul, and Paul over Pablo
o x Ii y Ii z
Individual i is indifferent between the options x and y and between y and z
x = France, y = Greece, and z = Zanzibar
Individual i just wants to go on vacation and does not care where to
o x Pi y Ii z
Individual i prefers option x over y but is indifferent between the options y and z
Rationality in more formal terms
o An individual i is rational if s/he makes a choice between the outcomes that is in accord to
his or her preferences
He or she chooses the outcome that is most preferred
o A choice is rational if the object chosen is better as any other available objects according to
the chooser's preferences
x Pi y Pi z
o A choice is rational if the object chosen is as good as any other available objects according
to the chooser's preferences
4
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