Kenneth A. Shepsle is professor and chair of Harvard University's Department of Government. A leading scholar
in rational choice theory, Professor Shepsle has written many articles and books on the subject including Positive
Theories of Congressional Institutions, Models of Multiparty Electoral Competition, Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary
Government, and Making and Breaking Governments.
Bonchek, Mark S. : Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mark S. Bonchek is a Ph.D. candidate in political economy and government at Harvard University and director
of the Political Participation Project, a nonpartisan research initiative affiliated with the Intelligent Information
Infrastructure Project in the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Review
"Analyzing Politics combines the best of both worlds. It has been written by a leading figure in the field
with years of experience teaching both graduate students and undergraduates in this area. I believe this experience
shows in its clear and concise presentation . . . . The authors have chosen very clean examples which allow the
student to learn much of this material on their own."
--Brian D. Humes, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
"The authors have done an excellent job in making the theoretical literature on rational choice accessible
to a student audience. . . .Very effective and well-written. I look forward to using it in my courses."
--Jay Hamilton, Duke University
W. W. Norton & Co. Web Site
February, 2000
Summary
Analyzing Politics provides a clear, thorough, and jargon-free introduction to rational choice theory.
Through case studies, illustrations, and examples, Shepsle and Bonchek provide students with the means to analyze
a wide variety of situations. The text is also supported by a web site.
Table of Contents
Part I Introduction
1. It Isn't Rocket Science, But . . .
2. Rationality: The Model of Choice
Part II Group Choice
3. Getting Started on Group Choice Analysis
4. Group Choice and Majority Rule
5. Spatial Models of Majority Rule
6. Strategic Behavior
7. Voting Methods and Electoral Systems
Part III Cooperation, Collective Action, and Public Goods
8. Cooperation
9. Collective Action
10. Public Goods, Externalities, and the Commons
Part IV Institutions
11. Institutions: General Remarks
12. Legislatures
13. Bureaucracy and Intergovernmental Relations
14. Leadership
15. Courts and Judges
16. Cabinet Government and Parliamentary Democracy
17. Final Lessons
Case Studies:
Case 2.1 Governor Weld's Electoral Options
Case 4.1 Civil War Taxes, Great Depression Taxes, 1980s Tax Reform
Case 4.2 Legislative Intent
Case 5.1 Sunset Provisions and Zero-Based Budgeting
Case 5.2 The Importance of Compromise and Strategic Thinking
Case 6.1 "Need-Blind" College Admissions
Case 6.2 Congressional Pay Raise Dilemmas
Case 6.3 Presidential Veto Stories
Case 6.4 Aid to Education and the Powell Amendment
Case 6.5 Not Wasting One's Vote
Case 8.1 The Paradox of Cooperation: Nuclear Disarmament in the Cold War and Congressional Pork-Barreling
Case 9.1 Who Is Represented?
Case 9.2 The Large and the Small
Case 9.3 What Does the Evidence Say?
Case 10.1 Public Goods, Property Rights, and the Radio Spectrum
Case 10.2 Fishing and the Tragedy of the Commons
Case 12.1 Campaign Contributions
Case 12.2 Interest-Group
Case 13.1 Congressional Oversight: Police Patrols, Fire Alarms, and Fire Extinguishers
Case 13.2 How to Test Niskanen?
Case 14.1 FDR and World War II
Case 14.2 Only Nixon Could Go to China
Case 15.1 The Best Judges Money Can Buy?
Case 15.2 Legislators in Robes Revisited
