Democracy for realists Why elections do not produce responsive government

Achen (Princeton) and Bartels (Vanderbilt) challenge the conventional theory of democracy that depicts rational voters providing mandates to the winners of elections. The authors demonstrate convincingly that this romantic folk theory cannot withstand empirical scrutiny. They argue that the idealistic folk theory of democracy fails because instead of voting on the basis of issue preferences, citizens choose candidates mostly on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties. They note that every presidential primary season "exposes the dangers of voter fatigue with familiar, experienced politicians and their enthusiasm for hopelessly unqualified but clever demagogues known only from a few television appearances." The book would be important if it merely debunked traditional theories of spatial and retrospective voting, but the authors suggest an alternative focus on the determinants of partisan attachments through social identity. They make a powerful case for a new agenda of research toward a realistic democracy theory based on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Their statistical methods are sophisticated and their writing is clear, concise, and appropriately whimsical on occasion. Certain to become a classic. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. --Robert E. O'Connor, National Science Foundation

Why the theories used to rationalize our beliefs in democracy are broken beyond repair and must be replaced. "Conventional thinking about democracy," write Achen (Social Sciences and Politics/Princeton Univ.; co-author: The Statistical Analysis of Quasi-Experiments, 1987, etc.) and Bartels (Chair, Public Policy and Social Science/Vanderbilt Univ.; Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age, 2008, etc.), "has collapsed in the face of modern social-scientific research." The authors argue that rising inequality is a byproduct of this breakdown in the way democracy functions, and we desperately need reforms. Unfortunately, the demanded improvements are often unattainable, functioning merely as empty sloganeering. Inequality and insider power have increased over the years, and the politicians who benefit continue to expand their gains. Reformers often substitute increased emotional intensity of their demands for effective political strategies. Neither politicians nor citizens fully understand why this is so or how it can be addressed. As the authors note, campaign finance reform, reductions in income inequality, and the strengthening of equal protections would all be beneficial. Unfortunately, politicians are often not influenced by the people's will. Achen and Bartels combine a long-standing tradition of political criticism with intensive research into population behavior and beliefs. They show that results are not based on individual choices and deliberations but on notions of group identities. Citizens lack the time, inclination, and means to seriously consider issues that should be important but are usually ignored, and partisan loyalties shapeand are shaped byracial, ethnic, religious, and familial identities. "We believe," write the authors, "that abandoning the folk theory of democracy is a prerequisite to both greater intellectual clarity and real political change. Too many democratic reformers have squandered their energy on misguided or quixotic ideas." A comprehensive analysis that lays the foundation for a discussion of necessary reforms and how they can be achieved. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.