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Political Psychology

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Political Psychology
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Jon Elster
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:216
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreSocial and political philosophy
ISBN/Barcode 9780521422864
ClassificationsDewey:320.01
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 29 January 1993
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This provocative book takes up and develops the themes of rationality and irrationality in Jon Elster's earlier work. Its purposes are threefold. First, Elster shows how belief and preference formation in the realm of politics are shaped by social and political institutions. Second, he argues for an important distinction in the social sciences between mechanisms and theories. Third, he illustrates those general principles of political psychology through readings of three outstanding political psychologists: the French classical historian, Paul Veyne; the Soviet dissident writer, Alexander Zinoviev; the great French political theorist, Alexis de Tocqueville.

Reviews

"As always, Elster has produced an analysis that is conspicuous for its elegance...Seldom can Tocqueville have been put through such a rigorous intellectual mincer." Rudolf Klein, Times Literary Supplement