1st Edition
Behavioral Political Economy and Democratic Theory Fortifying Democracy for the Digital Age
Drawing on current debates at the frontiers of economics, psychology, and political philosophy, this book explores the challenges that arise for liberal democracies from a confrontation between modern technologies and the bounds of human rationality.
With the ongoing transition of democracy’s underlying information economy into the digital space, threats of disinformation and runaway political polarization have been gaining prominence. Employing the economic approach informed by behavioral sciences’ findings, the book’s chief concern is how these challenges can be addressed while preserving a commitment to democratic values and maximizing the epistemic benefits of democratic decision-making. The book has two key strands: it provides a systematic argument for building a behaviorally informed theory of democracy; and it examines how scientific knowledge on quirks and bounds of human rationality can inform the design of resilient democratic institutions. Drawing these together, the book explores the centrality of the rationality assumption in the methodological debates surrounding behavioral sciences as exemplified by the dispute between neoclassical and behavioral economics; the role of (ir)rationality in democratic social choice; behaviorally informed paternalism as a response to the challenge of irrationality; and non-paternalistic avenues to increase the resilience of the democratic institutions toward political irrationality.
This book is invaluable reading for anyone interested in behavioral economics and sciences, political philosophy, and the future of democracy.
Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction
Overview of the Book’s Structure
The Paradigmatic Struggle in the Theory of Human Behavior
Economic Approach to Human Behavior
An Empire of Rational Choice
Behavioral Paradigm Shift
Towards a New Theory of Human Behavior
Predictive Success and "Realism"
Neoclassical Predictive Success
Behavioral Economics’ Promise
Conclusion
Democracy and Rationality
Choice: Individual and Collective
The Problem of Social Choice
The Problem of Rational Ignorance and the Wisdom of Crowds
Condorcet’s Jury Theorem
Miracle of Aggregation and Diversity Trumps Ability Theorem
Behavioral Political Economy of Democracy
A Democratic Equilibrium
Conclusion
The Republic of Misinformation
The Victim Narrative
A Question of Agency
Victims and Opportunists
Democracy contra Disinformation
Conclusion
The Conceit of Behaviorally Informed Paternalism
(Ir)rationality, Sovereignty, and Welfare
In Our Best Interest
Searching for True Preferences
Democratic Preference Laundering
Conclusion
Fortifying Democracy for the Digital Age
The Landscape of Democratic Reform
One Step at a Time: Marginal Reform
Boosts
Budges
Democracy Remodeled: Radical Reform
Quadratic Voting
Open Democracy
An Anti-Psychological State
Conclusion
The Road Ahead
Biography
Petr Špecián, Charles University and Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic.