Democracy for Realists

It flies in the face of decades of political science conventional wisdom about 'the rational voter' and other such dicta (what the authors call the 'folk theory' of democracy), but it seems to me obviously true, particularly in our age. --Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books A comprehensive analysis that lays the foundation for a discussion of necessary reforms and how they can be achieved. --Kirkus (starred review) Brutally depressing. --Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution [A] provocative book. --Edward Luce, Financial Times Provocative, persuasive and unsettling, Democracy for Realists is a profoundly important--and timely--book. --Glenn Altschuler, Tulsa World The book might make dreary reading about the failings of democracy. But by applying what Achen and Bartels say to what is happening in the elections... It is possible to make some sense. --Han Fook Kwang, Singapore Straits Times Democracy for Realists, by Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels, shows that however cynical you are about the democratic process, it's worse than you think. All the flaws in cognition that psychologists have been teaching for decades make a mockery of the folk theory that democracy produces responsive governments. --Steven Pinker, Harvard Crimson Democracy for Realists is essential reading for anyone interested in the problem of voter ignorance, and the future of democracy more generally. It illuminates a dangerous problem that may well bedevil democracy for a long time to come. --Ilya Somin, History News Network The most comprehensive recent study of the American voter. --Neal Miner, Honolulu Civil Beat It will confirm much that you may already have intuited--issues do not much matter--and it may make you want to jump out of a window, if you didn't already. --Kevin Williamson, National Review (Summer Reading Recommendation) An important book. The authors basically destroy our most cherished ideas about democracy. --Helio Schwartsman, Folha De S. Paolo The 2016 election cycle has confounded a good deal of scholarship and punditry so far. But one book that's coming out smelling like a rose is Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels' new book Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. This book's novel argument is that we've been thinking about democracy all wrong. --Seth Masket, Pacific Standard This more than erudite book couldn't have been published at a more apt, if not fractious climate amid modern British and European political history... Democracy for Realists will set minds thinking and trigger an array of debate; which, at the end of the day, is what democracy is all about. --David Marx Book Reviews For decades, political scientists have blasted away at electoral models based primarily on the idea of rational choice. In the most recent and sophisticated entry in the field, Democracy for Realists, Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels argue that even well-informed and politically engaged voters mostly choose candidates based on their social identities and partisan loyalties. Judging from the 2016 polls, that theory looks pretty good. --E.J. Dionne, Washington Post The best book to understand the 2016 campaign. --Matthew Yglesias According to some conventional accounts of democracy, these systems work. Voters toss out incumbents in hard times and retain them in good times... The genius of Achen and Bartels' work--the depressing genius of it--is the breadth of evidence they marshal that this is simply not the case. --Peter Loewen, Ottawa Citizen