Suchergebnisse

IN "PATHOLOGIES OF RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY," DONALD GREEN AND IAN SHAPIRO ARGUE THAT RATIONAL CHOICE SCHOLARSHIP IN POLITICAL SCIENCE IS EXPRESSIVELY THEORY-DRIVEN: TOO FEW OF ITS THEORETICAL INSIGHTS HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO SERIOUS EMPIRICAL SCRUTINY AND SURVIVED. HOWEVER, RATIONAL CHOICE THEORIZING HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IDENTIFY AND CORRECT LOGICAL INCONSISTENCIES AND SLIPPAGES. THUS, IT IS VALUABLE EVEN IF THE RESULTING THEORIES ARE NOT TESTED EMPIRICALLY. WHEN GREEN AND SHAPIRO'S ARGUMENT CONCERNING COLLECTIVE DILEMMAS AND FREE-RIDING IS FORMALIZED, IT PROVES TO BE DEEPLY FLAWED AND, IN MANY RESPECTS, FALSE. THEIR MISTAKE IS COMMON ENOUGH: THEY MISCLASSIFY A VARIETY OF COLLECTIVE DILEMMAS AS PRISONER'S DILEMMAS. BECAUSE THEY MISUNDERSTAND THE THEORY OF RATIONAL CHOICE, GREEN AND SHAPIRO ALLEGE THAT IT IS REFUTED BY EMPIRICAL FINDINGS THAT, IN FACT, SUPPORT IT.