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_______________________
A Primer on the Rat ionalCho ice App roach in
Comparat ive Po l it ics
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Rational Choice Approach
What does it mean to act in a rational manner?
Answer: Those who actrationally are assumedto be acting in their ownself-interest
This is the basic
assumption fromwhich rationalchoice analysis begins
The rational choice approach begins with the presumption that
Saddam was a rational actor
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Rational Choice Approach
Defining Self-Interest
To act consistently in relation to ones preferences
Preference can be for wealth, political power, survival,status/prestige, and so on
Also known as UtilityMaximization
Different people have different preferences, different ways to
maximize utility; this explains the rationality behind
different choices, such as the choice to purchase a Hummer
vs. the choice to purchase a Toyota Prius
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Rational Choice Approach
Real-worldexamples ofutilitymaximization:Self-interest isnot alwaysobvious
Those individuals who
give higher utility tohelping others or to
defending the nation
are also acting rationally;
they are maximizing their
personal utility
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Rational Choice Approach
Complicating Factors of Rationality
Rational action is complicated by a number of otherfactors, including:
1. Strategic Calculation
2. Strategic Interaction
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Rational Choice Approach
Complicating Factors of Rationality
Strategic calculation is a fancy way of sayingthat any decision is based on a calculation of
costs and benefits
A Simple Example: Deciding toattend or skip class; decidingto prepare for todays quiz
Your decision is based on aweighing of the costs andbenefits; most decisions, fromthe biggest to the smallest,involve this type of strategiccalculation
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Rational Choice Approach
Complicating Factors of Rationality
Strategic in teract io n
Most decisions are not made in isolation; that is, many decisions
involve two or more players
In these cases, we can say that individual decisions are generallypart of an interactive process, in which one players decision isinfluenced by the existence of another player
In chess and football, strategic
interaction is integral to the dynamics
and outcome of the game;
players/coaches on both sides are
engaged in a process of strategic
interaction
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Rational Choice Approach
Complicating Factors of Rationality
What is the sign i f icance of strategicin teract ion?
When more than one player is involved, the payoffs (or thebenefits) of any decision will depend on what the other player doesor does not do.
To determine what is rational, therefore, each player needs toguess how another player might act.
The right strategic moves in football will lead to a
touchdown; the right moves in chess will lead to checkmate.
The wrong move, however, may result in defeat
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Rational Choice Approach
Summing UpThus Far
Utility maximization,
strategic calculation andstrategic interaction canmake rational decision-making much morecomplex than it appearson the surface
In this scenario, the final outcome (e.g, mutually assured destruction is
the product of a process of rational decision-making shaped by strategic
calculation and interaction. NOTE: The final result is not necessarily
optimal
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Rational Choice Approach
Key Assumptions of Rational Choice
Rational choice scholars tell us that we should always assumethat the large majority of decisions are rational
One of the major tasks of rationalchoice, therefore, is to uncover theunder ly ing dynamicsof the decision making process,even when or especially when
decisions seem irrational
In rational choice, insane decision-makers, such as the fictitious Hannibal Lecter, are the rare exception,
rather than the rule. It is assumed that most decision-makers, especially those occupying positions of
responsibility, are generally rational.
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Rational Choice Approach
Key Assumptions ofRational Choice
Consider the following questions:
Why did North Koreas Kim Jong Ildecide to conduct a nuclear test?
Why d id Saddam launch aninvasion o f Kuwait?
Why did George W. Bush launch apre-emptive invasion of Iraq in2003?
Are they all just crazy, evil,
or obsessed?
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Rational Choice Approach
Key Assumptions of Rational Choice
Close examination of foregoing questions will likely lead to the
identification of an und er ly ing rational i ty
Paying attention to utility maximization, strategic calculation
and strategic interaction is critical
Almost assuredly, as each of these pictures suggest, Kim, Saddam, and
Bush all have/had justifiable reasons and clear objectives for theirdecisions
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Rational Choice Approach
Key Assumptions of Rational Choice
Perfect Information
Rational actors dont have access to perfectinformation
People, unlikeGod, are notomniscient,all-knowingbeings
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Rational Choice Approach
A Simple, but Critical Lesson
The complexity of strategic interaction,imperfect information and other factors meansthat notall rational decisions are gooddecisions
Consider the Iraq War: Aclassic example of a
rational decision leadingto a sub-optimaloutcome
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Rational Choice Approach
The Strategic Environment
Rationality is also affected by the larger strategicenvironment in which decisions are made
We cannot make any choicewe please because ofenvironmental constraints:
we are sometimes pushedto make certain choices
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Rational Choice Approach
The Strategic Environment
There are two major types of constraints
Scarcity(or material constraints)
Institutionalconstraints
Having no money severely limits the choices you can
make Arnold Schwarzenegger learned first hand about
the power of institutional constraints in California state
politics.
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Rational Choice Approach
Some Key Questions to Ask in Rational ChoiceAnalysis:
Who are the main actors?
How are their interests defined?
What information is available to them?
What type of constraints do they face?
How do the constraints influence their actions?
What are other important elements of the strategic
environment?
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Rational Choice Approach
Repeating, Restating, Reiterating a KeyPoint:
To use rational choice to explain social,
political or economic phenomena, you needto go well beyond simply asserting that actorsare rational
You must take account of utility maximization, strategiccalculation, strategic interaction, actors knowledge, andthe impact of the strategic environment
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_____________________
A Pr imer on theStructural App roach in
Comparat ive Po l it ics
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The Structural Approach
Structures: The Shaper of Our Lives
Structural approaches are based on
the idea that human actions arepartly and even largely determinedby underlying, sometimes invisibleforces, over which individuals havelittle or no control
An analogy: Consider thestructure of DNA and its affecton our individual lives
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The Structural Approach
The Impact ofStructure: AnExample
Feudalism was apowerful socialstructure; it shaped,in profound ways, the
lives of millions ofpeople and of wholesocieties for centuries
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The Structural Approach
Key Assumption in Structural Approach
The Centrality of Relationships
Structuralists assume that central to any structure arerelationships, which themselves exist within a broaderframework of action
Examples:Consider the relationship between women and men in apatriarchal structure, the relationship of workers to capitalists (or the rich
and poor) in a capitalist structure, the relationship of slaves to mastersin a structure of slavery, the relationship of peasant to lordin a feudalstructure, and so on
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The Structural Approach
Key Assumptions in (Historical) StructuralApproach
Structures are enduring, but not necessarily
permanent
Structures contain their own logic and dynamic
Structures create particular relationships
The fate of individuals, groups, and societies arelargely determined by their position within a structure
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The Structural Approach
Structures as Deeply Embedded Games
Consider the game of chess
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The Structural Approach
Some Key Questions to Ask in a StructuralAnalysis
What is the overarching structure and what are the key
relationships within that structure?
How does the structure work or operate? What is theinternal logic and basic dynamic of the structure?
What are the (structural) rules of the games, who are
the key players and what are their roles within thestructure?
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_______________________
A Pr imer on the Struc turalApp roach in Comparat ive
Pol i t ics
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Cultural Approach
A Caveat, A Warning!
Using culture to explain social, politicalor economic phenomena
may seem easy and intuitive,but its not
Cultural arguments are
often very bad arguments
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Cultural Approach
Bad Cultural Arguments: An Example
Heres an example of bad cultural argument purporting to
explain the lack of democracy in the Middle East:
There is a reason political pluralism, individual liberty and
self-rule do not exist in any of the 16 Arab nations in the
Middle East. Cultural traditions there tend toward anti-
intellectualism, religious zealotry and patriarchy,
values which provide little fertile ground for
progressive thinking.
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Cultural Approach
Erroneous Assumptions in Bad CulturalArguments
Typically, bad cultural argumentsassume that
culture is essentially fixed, monolithic, and one-directional
Fixed:Cultures dont ever change, ever
Monolithic: Within a culture, there is but a single,
unchallenged and unquestioned voice
One-directional:Culture is either an obstacle to change, or itsnot; it is either progressive or regressive, but not both
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Cultural Approach
The First Lesson for Good CulturalArguments
Begin with the assumption that culture is highly
malleable, multivocal, and multidirectional Malleable: Cultures can and do change, both quickly and slowly.
Multivocal: People of a single culture can and do disagree,sometimes in a fundamental manner.
Multidirectional: Culture can have contradictory and complexeffects; in different contexts, at different times, culture may blockchange or it may be a source of change.
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Cultural Approach
What is cu l ture?
A very general definition:
Culture marks a distinctive way of lifethat members of the culture share andupon which they forge a common andunique identity
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Cultural Approach
What is cul ture? What are the major elements of culture?
That is, what things constitute theworldview or distinctive way of life thatdefine culture?
Consider some general categories:
Religious beliefs and values
Political beliefs and values
Philosophical belief and values
Ideological beliefs and values
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Cultural Approach
What is cu l ture?
A Key Point: As a worldview, as a set of cognitive beliefs andvalues, as a shared identity, culture is inherently and unavoidablysubjective, or more accurately, intersubjective
The subjective nature of culture means, in part, that culture isintangible; it exists only inside our (collective) heads
The intersubjective nature of culture means that it is subject tocontinual negotiation and (re)interpretation, since it must be
reproducedover and over again*
* This tells us, in large part, why culture is never fixed or monolithic
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Cultural Approach
A Key Assumption in Cultural Approach
Culturalists believe culture has power
Culture has power at both the individual and collectivelevels
Culture can compel individuals and whole peoples toact and behave in certain ways, to make profoundsacrifices and even give up their very lives for the sake
of a larger good
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Cultural Approach
The Power of Culture: Individual Examples
Values, beliefs, and ideals--that
is, culture--compels some
individuals to make profound
personal sacrifices: a lone
protestor trying to stop a column
of tanks
a suicide bomber and a
Buddhist monk Can rational
choice truly explain the power of
culture?
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Cultural Approach
Culture as a political resource or asset
The power of culture gives it huge potential asa political resource or asset
Significantly, the power of an ostensibly single culturecan be harnessed or co-opted by opportunistic leadersand others to achieve self-serving goals: consider,Bosnia, Rwanda, and al Qaida
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Cultural Approach
Culture as a pol i t ical resou rce
or asset
In these three cases, political leaders co-opted culture to serve their own political ends. Culture and culturaldifferences were used to motivate collective action for horrendous political goals.
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Cultural Approach
Culture as a po l i t ical resourceor asset
On the other hand, culture can serve as a rallying cry, a force of broad based mobilization, for progressive
change. This was the case in the Philippines (the People Power movement, in Poland, in the former Soviet
Union, and in the US with the Civil Rights Movement
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Cultural Approach
Intersecting Forces
As variable,culture shouldnever be
treated asseparate fromother variables
Instead, think ofculture as
intersecting withother social,political, economicand historicalforces
Culturalforces
Economic
forces
Political
forces
Institutional factors
Transnational
factors
Historical
forces
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Cultural Approach
In sum
culture is complex
It is malleable
Its effects are sometimes obvious, but frequently subtle andeven hidden and contradictory
Culture has power, but it is not always or necessarily acausal power; the power of culture, moreover, does not
always flow in the same direction
Culture does not act alone toproduce outcomes
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Cultural Approach
Culture as an Independent Variable
Many social scientists dismiss culture because its causal power isdifficult, even impossible, to evaluate
Some argue that culture is simply a reflection of more basic forces
Some argue that culture, at most, affects the framework ofaction and is, therefore, only indirectly important (e.g., a rationalchoice analyst may argue that culture affects the strategicenvironment, but is not a fundamental element of behavior)
Some argue that culture is simply irrelevant because it cannot bequantified or measured--in part because culture is inherentlysubjective
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Cultural Approach
Culture as an Independent Variable
The debate about cultures causal powers cannot be resolvedeasily; however, one way to think about culture is to see it as bothcause and effect
In this view, culture is understood as a product of underlying social,economic or political forces, but once established, certain culturalpractices and beliefs tend to perpetuate themselves from generationto generation
Culture, in short, becomes independent over time: it takes on alife of its own and begins to operate as an autonomous or semi-autonomous force
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Cultural Approach
Culture as an Independent Variable
An example
In the Terminator, a computer networkbased on artificial intelligence isproduced by scientists (i.e., it is theproduct of outside forces). Once created,however, it becomes sentient: it not onlythinks, but acts to defend itself. It takeson a life of its own
Although the analogy is not perfect, thisis a useful way of understanding how aculture, once created by outside forces,can also take on a life of its own
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Cultural Approach
Culture as an Independent Variable
Key Point
Once culture takes on a life of its own, it can be analyzed asan independent variable
Remember, though, that culture is not static, nor is it tangible.Thus, as an independent variable, it must be treated with
extreme care
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Cultural Approach
Concluding Points: Doing Good CulturalAnalysis
Using culture in an analysis is not easy; indeed, it can bequite confusing
The key is to avoid treating culture as an unambiguous setof unchanging values, norms and beliefs that define andunproblematically shape, and even determine, the social,political, and economic fates of individuals, societies andcountries
Instead recognize that culture is contested, profoundlypolitical, and inherently fluid
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