College aantekeningen
Lecture and Reading summary - Rational Choice Theory - 2024 - Grade 8.5
Full lecture and reading summary
[Meer zien]Voorbeeld 4 van de 57 pagina's
Voorbeeld 4 van de 57 pagina's
In winkelwagengesponsord bericht van onze partner
Gekoppeld boek
Titel boek:
Auteur(s):
- Uitgave:
- ISBN:
- Druk:
Voorbeeld van de inhoud
Notes – Rational Choice Theory 2024Lecture 01: 02/04/2024
Introduction
Rational choice
- Rational choice theory refers to the school of thought that defines human behaviour and how any
individual is most likely to make decisions.
- It is a framework/ approach of analysing decisions and not a theory.
- It claims to be able to explain how all decisions that are made across individuals.
- Most rational choice is based on economics (cost and benefit calculations):
- Individuals weight the benefits (B) of an action against the costs (C).
- B>C
- Action will take place
- C>B
- Action will not take place
- Rational choice is not just one theory, it is a whole set of theories surrounding a few basic assumptions.
- There is disagreement between the assumptions.
- Rational choice is based on a priori assumptions which result in deductive models of political behaviour.
- Deductive reasoning rather than inductive.
- Starting with a set of a priori assumptions/ theories.
- We make general models based on these assumptions.
- These models are used to predict behaviour.
- The assumptions and models are abstractions (simplifications) of the political world.
- We test the implications of these rational choice models with data.
- Inductive research, on the other hand, starts with observations and then tries to create
generalisations to create theories.
,Notes – Rational Choice Theory 2024
History
- Political science at the end of WW2
- Thick descriptions
- Summary of how institutions worked plus focus on their historical development.
- Normative component
- Many judgements were made about how the rules worked.
- Political science was descriptive and judgemental rather than analytical.
- 1950s to 1970s
- Behaviouralism
- Can we move towards a more objective approach?
- Focus on objective, quantified approaches to explain and predict behaviour (Why?).
- Starting to systematically collect information and find empirical regularities (inductive reasoning).
- Start of logical positivism.
- Initially started being used by economists (economic imperialism).
- This has a huge impact on political science.
- 1970s to 1994
- The combination of economic models and political science led to rational choice.
- The rise of rational choice (reaction to existing thick description).
- Rational choice scholars showed that state intervention does not always succeed in the market.
- Political usage of this idea by neo-liberal (right) politicians.
- 1994 to 2004
- Growing opposition to rational choice.
- Argument:
- Rational choice theory has not yielded empirically useful results.
- This led to a focus on evaluating of their theories empirically.
- Currently
- Rational choice still has an influence on political science.
- Especially in the US, rational choice shapes political science research agendas.
- Rational choice is heavily criticised.
Two types of rational choice models
- Soft rational choice
- Without mathematical formalism and certain assumptions might be softened.
- Hard rational choice
- With mathematical formalism.
,Notes – Rational Choice Theory 2024
Lecture 02: 04/04/2024
Building Blocks 1
Methodological individualism
- The unit of analysis is the individual person.
- If we analyse groups, we see these groups as composed of individuals and their preferences.
- We understand an organisation by explaining the behaviour of its leaders, its members, etc.
- Individuals decide, organisations do not.
- Society is the sum of individuals.
- Society does not shape individuals; individuals are shaped independently of the social
structure.
- Central disagreement with constructivism.
- Every analysis must begin with the individual, deal with individual choices and experiences, with
collectives formed as aggregates.
- Bottom-up analysis.
Rational behaviour (utility maximisation)
- Individuals have goals or desires, and these individuals act in accordance with those goals and desires.
- These can be good and bad (Sadaam Hussein and terrorists are rational).
- If individuals do not act in accordance with their goals and desires, they are irrational.
- Individual wants (goals and desires) are preferences.
- Rational choice does not care about where preferences of individuals come from and why people
want certain things.
Preferences
- What individuals want and desire (preferences) are given.
- These preferences do not change much.
- It does not matter where preferences come from.
- We do not know the preferences of others.
- We make assumptions about the preferences of others.
Self-interest versus selfish
- If an individual has preferences and acts in accordance with these preferences, we call the individual
rational and self-interested.
- People pursue what they find important/ their preferences.
- Preferences can include empathy for others.
- Self-interest does not automatically mean selfish.
, Notes – Rational Choice Theory 2024
Thick versus thin
- Thin version of rationality:
- We do not make any assumptions about an individual’s goal.
- We only know that individuals have goals.
- Thick version of rationality:
- We make more explicit assumptions about the goals of individuals.
- The goal of politicians is to receive as many votes as possible.
Rational choice writing
- i is the term that denotes the individual.
- x , y , z denotes the preferences that an individual (i) has.
- x Pi y
- An individual prefers option x to y.
- Option x is better than y.
- P means > (greater than).
- x Ii y
- An individual is indifferent between option x and y.
- Option x is not preferred to y.
- Option y is not preferred to x.
- I means = (equal to).
- Examples:
- x Pi y P i z
- An individual prefers option x over y and y over z.
- x Ii y Ii z
- An individual is indifferent between the options x and y and between y and z.
- x Pi y I i z
- An individual prefers option x over y but is indifferent between the options y and z.
- An individual is rational if they make a choice between the outcomes that is in accord to their
preferences.
- They choose the outcome that is most preferred.
- A choice is rational if the object chosen is better as any other available object according to
the chooser’s preferences.
- A choice is rational if the object chosen is as good as any other available objects according
to the chooser’s preferences.
Voordelen van het kopen van samenvattingen bij Stuvia op een rij:
Verzekerd van kwaliteit door reviews
Stuvia-klanten hebben meer dan 700.000 samenvattingen beoordeeld. Zo weet je zeker dat je de beste documenten koopt!
Snel en makkelijk kopen
Je betaalt supersnel en eenmalig met iDeal, creditcard of Stuvia-tegoed voor de samenvatting. Zonder lidmaatschap.
Focus op de essentie
Samenvattingen worden geschreven voor en door anderen. Daarom zijn de samenvattingen altijd betrouwbaar en actueel. Zo kom je snel tot de kern!
Veelgestelde vragen
Wat krijg ik als ik dit document koop?
Je krijgt een PDF, die direct beschikbaar is na je aankoop. Het gekochte document is altijd, overal en oneindig toegankelijk via je profiel.
Tevredenheidsgarantie: hoe werkt dat?
Onze tevredenheidsgarantie zorgt ervoor dat je altijd een studiedocument vindt dat goed bij je past. Je vult een formulier in en onze klantenservice regelt de rest.
Van wie koop ik deze samenvatting?
Stuvia is een marktplaats, je koop dit document dus niet van ons, maar van verkoper teaksgardens-0r. Stuvia faciliteert de betaling aan de verkoper.
Zit ik meteen vast aan een abonnement?
Nee, je koopt alleen deze samenvatting voor €13,49. Je zit daarna nergens aan vast.
Is Stuvia te vertrouwen?
4,6 sterren op Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
Afgelopen 30 dagen zijn er 77983 samenvattingen verkocht
Opgericht in 2010, al 14 jaar dé plek om samenvattingen te kopen