Political irrationality, utopianism, and democratic theory

An International Political Economy Theory of Democratic Transition

Note to WGAPE: I look forward to your feedback. This is my first attempt at a formal model, so I welcome any technical suggestions on that. I would also like to know your thoughts on how well the model relates to reality. I welcome suggestions on how to make it more realistic without making it too much more complicated (suggestions to make it both more realistic and simpler would be particularl...

Irrationality Without Number Theory

Irrationality in Game Theory

The concepts in game theory have been evolving in such a way that existing theories are recasted to apply to problems that previously appeared not to fit in. One of the most scrutinized concepts is backward induction. In extensive form games, given common knowledge of rationality, the outcome is backward induction. However, experiment results are contradictory from what game theory predicts. Se...

Rational Irrationality and the Microfoundations of Political Failure

Models of inefficient political failure have been criticized for implicitly assuming the irrationality of voters. (Wittman 1999, 1995, 1989; Coate and Morris 1995) Building on Caplan's (1999a, 1999b) model of "rational irrationality," the current paper maintains that the assumption of voter irrationality is both theoretically and empirically plausible. It then examines microfoundational critici...

Public Opinion , Political Representation , and Democratic Choice

Title of dissertation: PUBLIC OPINION, POLITICAL REPRESENTATION, AND DEMOCRATIC CHOICE Michael J. Zenz, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Assistant Professor Eric Pacuit Professor Christopher W. Morris Department of Philosophy In this dissertation I argue that political representatives have duties to be responsive to public opinion in their policy decisions. The existence of ...