Heuristics and the law
In: [Dahlem workshop reports]
In: [Dahlem workshop reports]
In: Political science research and methods: PSRM, Band 7, Heft 2, S. 311-330
ISSN: 2049-8489
A growing literature in political science has pointed to the importance of heuristics in explaining citizens' political attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. At the same time, the multidisciplinary research on heuristics in general has revealed that individuals seem to use heuristics sensibly—applying them (perhaps subconsciously) when they are likely to be helpful but not otherwise. We extend this multidisciplinary work to political behavior and present a general theory of contextual variation in political heuristic use applied to discover under what conditions (i.e., what political contexts) voters will use a partisanship heuristic to infer the legislative votes of their legislators in imperfectly disciplined voting contexts. More specifically, we predict that US constituents of loyal partisan senators will use the partisanship heuristic more often than constituents of less loyal senators. Our empirical analysis reveals strong support for our theory, contributing to our understanding of political heuristics in general and adding nuance to our understanding of the partisanship heuristic in particular.
In: Ethics and War in the 21st Century; LSE International Studies, S. 132-154
In: Polish contemporary philosophy and philosophical humanities Volume 7
In: The Oxford Handbook of Behavioral Economics and the Law
In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics
"Fast and Frugal Heuristics" published on by Oxford University Press.
In: Party politics: an international journal for the study of political parties and political organizations, Band 14, Heft 1, S. 31-49
ISSN: 1460-3683
The process of formation of electoral expectations in proportional representation systems is analysed in this article. Contrary to Duvergerian or electoral coordination theories, by using survey and in-depth elite interview data from Spain in the 1970s and 1980s, it is shown that strategic voting depends on heuristics (i.e. extrapolations from the previous election) rather than on rational expectations. The main implication is that strategic voting is possible in large districts.
In: Political knowledge: critical concepts in political science Vol. 3
In: The Simple Art of Voting, S. 79-121
In: Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making, S. 567-583
In: Political psychology: journal of the International Society of Political Psychology, Band 30, Heft 6, S. 863-894
ISSN: 1467-9221
Despite the extensive literature on citizens' use of cognitive heuristics in political settings, far less is known about how political elites use these shortcuts. Legislative elites benefit from the efficiency of the accessibility heuristic, but their judgments can also be flawed if accessible information is incomplete or unrepresentative. Using personal interviews and a quasi‐experimental design, this paper examines the use of the accessibility heuristic by professional legislative staff when assessing the importance of natural resources issues to their constituents. Staff members recall only a small subset of the relevant constituents in the district, and this subset is biased in favor of active and resource‐rich constituents over other, equally relevant constituents. This paper provides a new application of cognitive psychology to political elites and addresses important normative questions about the importance of information processing for political representation. By drawing on the psychology literature on heuristics, this paper identifies the cognitive mechanisms of congressional representation and provides new evidence of old biases.
In: Millennium: journal of international studies, Band 36, Heft 3, S. 425-437
ISSN: 0305-8298
Argues that war demands rules & it is possible to be ruthless & still observe them. Military history has proven that those who exercise restraint, proportionality, discrimination, & legitimacy have an advantage over those who don't. Augustine believed that the limiting principal in war is what makes peace possible & is the reason for ethical codes on the battlefield. It is maintained that it is possible to fight morally for a better kind of peace even if war remains entrenched in the international system for some time to come. Other matters discussed include how the post-modern condition is defined by risks, insecurities, & control problems; the impact of the heritage of classical Greece & Rome on today's situation; the fear that is programmed into the War on Terror; the reemergence of religion in the discourse of international politics which holds the promise of a more pluralistic dialogue but has also given rise to fundamentalist violence; & the importance of never justifying inhumane acts. J. Lindroth