ANALYTICAL PERSPECTIVE
IN STUDYING POLITICS:
Behavioralism and Rational Choice/Action
Theory
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RATIONAL CHOICE/
ACTION THEORY
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DEFINITION
▰ RATIONAL CHOICE & ACTION THEORY
- - The assumption that individuals choose a course of
action that is most in line with their personal preferences
- - In politics, the behavior is motivated by self-interest,
utility maximization
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HISTORICAL BACKROUND
- Originated during the late 18th century
with the work of Cesare Beccaria
- Many Ideas can also be traced back to
Adam Smith who wrote in the 1700s
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HOW DOES
RATIONAL
THEORY
WORKS? 5
ELEMENTS AND STRUCTURE
▰ Rational choice theory holds that all
considerations pertinent to choice can be
incorporated into the persons preference
rankings overall possible end goals, wants,
and needs.
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ELEMENTS AND STRUCTURE
▰ Its fundamental element is game theory
which provides a mathematical
framework for analyzing individuals
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ELEMENTS AND STRUCTURE
▰ Game Theory – is the process of
modeling the strategic interaction
between two or more players in a
situation containing set rules and
outcomes.
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BENEFITS
- Allows preferences to be represented as
real-valued utility functions.
- It provides a compact theory that
empirical predictions with a relatively
sparse model of the objectives and
constraints. 9
MODELING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
▰ - The science of rational choice includes
both research on the abstract conditions
governing human rationality and
research that seeks to explain and
predict outcomes assuming rational
agency.
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BEHAVIORALISM
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DEFINITION
▰ Behavioralism ( Ellen John, 2017)
- - in political science seeks to give importance to study of
behavior of political actors involved in political processes.
- - study of actors results in formulating a concrete and
reliable construction of theory.
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DEFINITION
▰ Behavioralism ( Political Science Notes, 2017)
- - an approach in political science which insists on
analysing only observable behavior of political actors.
- - it starts an in-depth analysis by scrutinizing the political
behavior of individuals.
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HISTORICAL BACKRGOUND
▰ Origins can be traced back to the works of
- GRAHAM WALLAS (Human Nature in Politics)
- ARTHUR BENTLEY (The Process of Government)
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HISTORICAL BACKRGOUND
GRAHAM WALLAS
- insisted in exploring facts and evidence for
understanding human nature and its manifestations in
human behavior
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HISTORICAL BACKRGOUND
ARTHUR BENTLEY
-primarily sought not to describe political
activity, but to provide a set of new tools of
investigation in the social sciences
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HISTORICAL BACKRGOUND
▰ Only after the Second World War, Behaviouralism in political
science was developed, particularly through the writings of
American Political Scientists.
▰ It gained support from 1942 to 1970s.
▰ It David Easton who started it in the study of political system.
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David Easton
Famous proponent of behavioralism
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Why Behavioralism
emerged?
Traditional
Political Science
was accused of:
• Merely descriptive or even narrowly descriptive
• Being only normative
• Focusing on ideas instead of facts
• Inability to produce a rigorous understanding of political 19
processes
BEHAVIORALISM AS APPROACH
TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
▰ - Behaviouralism seeks to examine the behaviour, actions,
and acts of individuals – rather than the characteristics of
institutions such as legislatures, executives, and
judiciaries – and groups in different social settings and
explain this behavior as it relates to the political system.
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BEHAVIORALISM AS APPROACH
TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
▰ - Given that social organization and human behavior are
governed by dynamic processes rather than static
patterns of repetition
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BEHAVIORALISM AS APPROACH
TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
▰ - Behaviouralists utilize the methodology of the social
sciences—primarily psychology —to establish statistical
relationships between independent variables (presumed
causes) and dependent variables (presumed effects)
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BEHAVIORALISM AS APPROACH
TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
▰ -
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BEHAVIORALISM AS APPROACH
TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
Behaviouralists might use detailed
▰ -
election data to argue that voters in
rural areasare likely to vote for Mr. ‘A’
and not Mr. ‘B’ as a result of X and Y
reasons.
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BEHAVIORALISM AS APPROACH
TO POLITICAL SCIENCE
▰ -
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1. What do actors involved
actually do?
QUESTIONS 2. How can we best explain
why they do it?
THAT
BEHAVIORALIST
SEEKS TO
ANSWER 26
SALIENT
FEATURES
OF
BEHAVIORALISM
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SALIENT FEATURES OF BEHAVIORALISM
David Easton has pointed out
certain salient features of
behaviouralism which regarded as
its intellectual foundations.
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SALIENT FEATURES OF BEHAVIORALISM
QUANTIFICA-
REGULARITIES VERIFICATION TECHNIQUES
TION
SYSTEMATIZA PURE
VALUES INTEGRATION
-TION SCIENCE
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REGULARITIES
Certain uniformities in political
behavior which can be expressed in
generalizations or theories in order to
explain and predict political
phenomena.
100%
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VERIFICATION
Emphasizes testing and verifying
everything.
What cannot be verified is not
scientific.
100%
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TECHNIQUES
Put emphasis on the use of those
research tools and methods which
generate valid, reliable and
comparative data.
100%
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QUANTIFICATION
After collecting data, the researcher
should measure and quantify those
data.
100%
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VALUES
The research should not have any pre-
conceived notion or a biased view.
100%
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SYSTEMATIZATION
Research in Political Science must be
systematic. Theory and research
should go together.
100%
35
PURE SCIENCE
It believes that the study of Political
Science should be verified by
evidence.
100%
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INTEGRATION
This believes that political events are
shaped by various other factors in the
society.
100%
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Advantages of Behavioralism
▰ Makes political science more scientific and
bring it closer to the day today life of the
individuals.
▰ Has first explained human behavior into the
field of political science and thus makes the
study more relevant to the society. 38
Advantages of Behavioralism
▰ Helps in predicting the future political
events
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Criticism of Behavioralism
▰ Neal Riemer believes
behaviouralism dismisses
"the task of ethical recommendation“
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Criticism of Behavioralism
▰ Christian Bay believed behaviouralism
was a pseudopolitical science and
that it did not represent "genuine"
political research.[24] Bay objected to
empirical consideration taking
precedence over normative and moral
examination. 41
Criticism of Behavioralism
▰ Difficult to study human behavior
▰ Excessive emphasis upon
quantification
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Theories used in studying political
phenomena may not be perfectly
accurate as there are several critics
CONCLUSION that could point out the insufficiency of
the used approaches. But then, it is not
completely flawed. Different approaches
in studying politics greatly impact
perspective of political context.
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THANKS!
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