Skip to main content

The social logic of political choice: Picking a political party in the context of immediate social circles

Politische Vierteljahresschrift volume 48, pages 633–649 (2007)Cite this article

Zusammenfassung

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die „social logic of politics“ dazu verwendet, um politische Präferenzen von Menschen zu erklären. Im Zentrum der politischen Wahl steht der hier vorgestellten theoretischen Sichtweise zufolge das soziale Lernen. Demnach entwickeln Menschen ihre politischen Präferenzen, ihr politisches Wissen, ihre Werte, ihre Wahrnehmungen und ihre Entscheidungen hinsichtlich politischen Verhaltens in der Regel im Austausch mit Mitgliedern ihrer engeren sozialen Kreise. Politische Einstellungen und Ziele sind damit nicht das Resultat ökonomischer Präferenzen; sie sind auch nicht das Ergebnis sorgfältiger Erwägungen, in denen die Befriedigung individueller Bedürftnisse im Zentrum steht.

Abstract

The Social Logic of Politics places social learning at the center of political choice. People develop their political preferences, knowledge, values, perceptions of ability, and decisions about political behavior in interactions with others, usually members of their social circles. Political attitudes and goals are not derivatives of exogenous economic preferences. They are not the results of careful calculations, in which optimization of personal needs guides the mode of reasoning. This theoretical stance draws sustenance from recent work across the social science, even as it harkens back to established, if neglected principles of political analysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Achen, Christopher, 2002: Parental Socialization and Rational Party Identification, in: Political Behavior 24, 151–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alford, C. Fred, 1994: Group Psychology and Political Theory. New Haven.

  • Anderson, Christopher J./ Paskeviciute, Aida, 2004: Macro-Politics and Micro-Behavior: Mainstream Politics and the Frequency of Political Discussion in Contemporary Democracies, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 228–250.

  • Aron, Art/ Aron, Elaine, 2000: Self-expansion Motivation and Including Other in the Self, in: Duck, Steve/ Ickes, William (eds.), The Social Psychology of Personal Relationship. New York, 109–128.

  • Arrow, Kenneth, 1986: Rationality of Self and Others in an Economic System, in: The Journal of Business 59, 385–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aumann, Robert J., 2005: Consciousness. Discussion Paper 391. Jerusalem.

  • Axelrod, Robert, 1997a: The Dissemination of Culture: A Model with Local Convergence and Global Polarization, in: Journal of Conflict Resolution 41, 203–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Axelrod, Robert, 1997b: The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration. Princeton.

  • Barker, Ernest (ed./tr.), 1962: The Politics of Aristotle. New York.

  • Beck, Paul Allen/ Dalton, Russell J./ Greene, Steven/ Huckfeldt, Robert, 2002: The Social Calculus of Voting: Interpersonal, Media, and Organizational Influences on Presidential Choices, in: American Political Science Review 96(1), 57–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berelson, Bernard R./ Lazarsfeld, Paul F./ McPhee, William N., 1954: Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign. Chicago.

  • Berns, Gregory S./ Chappelow, Jonathan/ Martin-Skurski, Megan E./ Pagnoni, Giuseppe/ Richards, Jim/ Zink, Caroline F., 2005: Neurobiological Correlates of Social Conformity and Independence During Mental Rotation, in: Biological Psychiatry 58, 245–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bion, Wilfred R., 1961: Experiences in Groups and other Papers. New York.

  • Blais, André, 2000: To Vote or Not to Vote: The Merits and Limits of Rational Choice Theory. Pittsburgh.

  • Boudon, Raymond, 1992: Subjective Rationality and the Explanation of Social Behavior, in: Simon, Herbert (ed.), Economics, Bounded Rationality and the Cognitive Revolution. Brookfield.

  • Boudon, Raymond, 1998: Social Mechanisms without Black Boxes, in: Hedström, Peter/ Swedberg, Richard (eds.), Social Mechanisms: An Analytical Approach to Social Theory. New York.

  • Bowles, Samuel, 1998: Endogenous Preferences: The Cultural Consequences of Markets and Other Institutions. Journal of Economic Literature 36, 75–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, Angus/ Converse, Philip E./ Miller, Warren E./ Stokes, Donald E., 1960: The American Voter. New York.

  • Cartwright, Dorwin (ed.), 1964 [1951]: Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers by Kurt Lewin. New York.

  • Cunningham, Michael R./ Barbee, Anita P., 2000: Social Support, in: Hendrick, Clyde/ Hendrick, Susan S. (eds.), Close Relationships: A Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, 273–286.

  • Douglas, Mary, 1986: How Institutions Think. Syracuse.

  • Douglas, Mary/ Ney, Steven, 1998: Missing Persons: A Critique of Personhood in the Social Sciences. Berkeley.

  • Downs, Anthony, 1957: An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York.

  • Elster, Jan, 2005: Preference Formation in Transitional Justice, in: Katznelson, Ira/ Weingast, Barry R. (eds.), Preferences and Situations: Points of Intersection between Historical and Rational Choice Institutionalism. New York, 247–278.

  • Etzioni, Amitai, 1985: Opening the Preferences: a Socio-Economic Research Agenda, in: Journal of Behavioral Economics 14, 183–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, James H., 2005: Turnout in a Small World, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politic, Philadelphia, 269–288.

  • Gigerenzer, Gerd/ Selten, Reinhard (eds.), 2001a: Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolbox. Cambridge.

  • Gigerenzer, Gerd/ Selten, Reinhard, 2001b: Rethinking Rationality, in: Gigerenzer, Gerd/ Selten, Reinhard (eds.), Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolbox. Cambridge, 1–12.

  • Gimpel, James/ Lay, J. Celeste, 2005: Partisan Identification, Local Partisan Contexts, and the Acquisition of Participatory Attitudes, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 209–228.

  • Gonzalez, Richard/ Griffin, Dale, 2000: On the Statistics of Interdependence: Treating Dyadic Data with Respect, in: Ickes, William/ Duck, Steve (eds.), The Social Psychology of Personal Relationship. New York, 181–213.

  • Granovetter, Mark, 1973: The Strength of Weak Ties, in: American Journal of Sociology 78, 1360–1380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, Mark, 1974: Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers. Cambridge.

  • Haslam, S. Alexander/ McCarty, Craig/ Turner, John C., 1996: Salient Group Memberships and Persuasion: The Role of Social Identity in the Validation of Beliefs, in: Nye, Judith L./ Brower, Aron (eds.), What’s Social About Social Cognition? Research on Socially Shared Cognition in Small Groups. Thousand Oaks, Calif., 29–58.

  • Heintz, Christophe, 2005: The Ecological Rationality of Strategic Cognition, in: Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, 825–826.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrick, Clyde/ Hendrick, Susan S. (eds.), 2000: Close Relationships: A Handbook. Thousand Oaks.

  • Henrich, Joseph et al., 2001: In Search of Homo Economicus: Behavioral Experiments in 15 Small-Scale Societies, in: American Economic Review 91, 73–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henrich, Joseph et al., 2004: Foundations of Human Sociality: Economic Experiments and Ethnographic Evidence from Fifteen Small-Scale Societies. New York.

  • Henrich, Joseph et al., 2005a: Economic man in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Behavioral Experiments in 15 Small-Scale Societies, in: Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, 795–815.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henrich, Joseph et al., 2005b: Authors’ Response: Models of Decision-Making and the Coevolution of Social Processes, in: Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28: 838–855.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernes, Gunnar, 1998: Virtual Reality, in: Hedström, Peter/ Swedberg, Richard (eds.), Social Mechanisms: An Analytical Approach to Social Theory. New York, 74–101.

  • Huckfeldt, Robert, 2001: The Social Communication of Political Expertise, in: American Journal of Political Science 45, 425–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huckfeldt, Robert/ Beck, Paul Allen/ Dalton, Russell J./ Levine, Jeffrey, 1995: Political Environments, Cohesive Social Groups, and the Communication of Public Opinion, in: American Journal of Political Science 39(4), 1025–1054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huckfeldt, Robert/ Johnson, Paul E./ Sprague, John, 2004: Political Disagreement: The Survival of Diverse Opinions within Communication Networks. New York.

  • Huckfeldt, Robert/ Johnson, Paul E./ Sprague, John, 2005: Individuals, Dyads, and Networks: Autoregressive Patterns of Political Influence, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 21–50.

  • Huckfeldt, Robert/ Sprague, John, 1995: Citizens, Politics, and Social Communication: Information and Influence in an Election Campaign. New York.

  • Ickes, William/ Duck, Steve (eds.), 2000: The Social Psychology of Personal Relationships. New York.

  • Jennings, M. Kent/ Niemi, Richard G., 1981: Generations and Politics: A Panel Study of Young Adults and their Parents. Princeton.

  • Johnson, Paul E./ Huckfeldt, Robert, 2005: Agent-Based Explanations for the Survival of Disagreement in Social Networks, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia.

  • Jones, Bryan, 2001: Politics and the Architecture of Choice. Chicago.

  • Johnston, Ron J./ Pattie, Charles, 2005: Putting Voters in their Places: Local Context and Voting in England and Wales, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 184–208.

  • Katz, Elihu/ Lazarsfeld, Paul F., 1955: Personal Influence: The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communications. Glencoe.

  • Kenny, Christopher B., 1994: The Microenvironment of Attitude Change, in: Journal of Politics 56(3), 715–728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Key, Vladimir O., Jr., 1966: The Responsible Electorate: Rationality and Presidential Voting 1936–60. Cambridge. With the assistance of Milton C. Cummings, Jr.

  • Key, Vladimir O., Jr./ Munger, Frank, 1959: Social Determinism and Electoral Decision: The Case of Indiana, in: Burdick, Eugene/ Brodbeck, Arthur (eds.), American Voting Behavior. Glencoe, 281–299.

  • King-Cassas, Brooks/ Anen, Cedric/ Camerer, Colin/ Montague, P. Read/ Tomlin, Damon/ Quartz, Steven R., 2005: Getting to Know You: Reputation and Trust in a Two-Person Economic Exchange, in: Science 308, 78–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kotler-Berkowitz, Laurence, 2005: Friends and Politics: Linking Diverse Friendship Networks and Political Participation, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics: Personal Networks as Contexts for Political Behavior. Philadelphia, 152–170.

  • Laland, Kevin M., 2001: Imitation, Social Learning, and Preparedness as Mechanisms of Bounded Rationality, in: Gigerenzer, Gerd/ Selten, Reinhard (eds.), Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolbox. Cambridge, 233–248.

  • Lazarsfeld, Paul F./ Berelson, Bernard/ Gaudet, Hazel, 1968 [1948]: The People’s Choice: How Voter Makes up his Mind in a Presidential Campaign. New York.

  • Levi, Primo, 1988: The Drowned and the Saved. London.

  • Levine, Jeffrey, 2005: Choosing Alone? The Social Network Basis of Modern Political Choice, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics: Personal Networks as Contexts for Political Behavior. Philadelphia, 132–151.

  • Lewin, Kurt, 1948: Resolving Social Conflicts: Selected Papers in Group Dynamics. New York.

  • Lichbach, Mark I., 1996: The Rebel’s Dilemma. Ann Arbor.

  • Lichbach, Mark I., 1997: The Cooperator’s Dilemma. Ann Arbor.

  • Lin, Ann Chih, 2005: Networks, Gender, and the Use of State Authority: Evidence from a Study of Arab Immigrants in Detroit, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 171–184.

  • Lupia, Arthur/ McCubbins, Matthew, 2000: The Institutional Foundations of Political Competence: How Citizens Learn What They Need to Know, in: Lupia, Arthur/ McCubbins, Matthew D./ Popkin, Samuel L. (eds.), Elements of Reason: Cognition, Choice, and the Bounds of Rationality. New York, 47–66.

  • March, James G., 1953–54: Husband and Wife Interaction over Political Issues, in: Public Opinion Quarterly 17,4, 461–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • March, James G./ Heath, Chip, 1994: A Primer on Decision Making: How Decisions Happen. New York.

  • Mebane, Walter, Jr., 2004: Cuing and Coordination in American Politics. Stanford.

  • Meehl, Paul E., 1977: The Selfish Voter Paradox and the Thrown-Away Vote Argument, in: American Political Science Review 71, 11–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merton, Robert K., 1957: Social Theory and Social Structure. New York.

  • Miller, Warren E./ Shanks, J. Merrill, 1996: The New American Voter. Cambridge.

  • Newcomb, Theodore M./ Turner, Ralph H./ Converse, Philip E., 1964: Social Psychology: The Study of Human Interaction. New York.

  • Nye, Judith L./ Brower, Aaron M., 1996: What’s Social about Social Cognition? Research on Socially Shared Cognition in Small Groups. Thousand Oaks.

  • Olson, Mancur, Jr., 1965: The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge.

  • Oyserman, Daphna/ Packer, Martin J., 1996: Social Cognition and Self-Concept: A Socially Contextualized Model of Identity, in: Nye, Judith L./ Brower, Aaron M. (eds.), What’s Social About Social Cognition? Research on Socially Shared Cognition in Small Groups. Thousand Oaks, 175–204.

  • Riker, William H., 1982: The Two-Party System and Duverger’s Law: An Essay on the History of Political Science, in: American Political Science Review 76, 753–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rilling, James K./ Berns, Gregory S./ Gutman, David/ Kilts, Clinton D./ Pagnoni, Giuseppe/ Zeh, Thorsten R., 2002: A Neural Basis for Social Cooperation, in: Neuron 35, 395–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt-Beck, Rüdiger, 2003: Mass Communication, Personal Communication and Vote Choice: The Filter Hypothesis of Media Influence in Comparative Perspective, in: British Journal of Political Science 33, 233–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafir, Eldar/ LeBoeuf, Robyn, 2002: Rationality, in: American Review of Psychology 53, 491–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafir, Eldar/ Tversky, Amos, 1995: Decision Making, in: Smith, Edward E./ Osherson, Daniel N. (eds.), An Invitation to Cognitive Science. Cambridge, 77–100.

  • Simmel, Georg, 1955: Conflict and the Web of Group-Affiliations. New York.

  • Simon, Herbert A., 1965 [1957]: Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making in Administrative Organization. New York.

  • Simon, Herbert A., 1999: Comments on Remarks of James Buchanan and Douglass C. North, in: Alt, James/ Levi, Margaret/ Ostrom, Elinor (eds.), Competition and Cooperation: Conversations with Nobelists on Economics and Politics. New York.

  • Stoker, Laura/ Jennings, M. Kent, 2005: Political Similarity and Influence between Husbands and Wives, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 51–74.

  • Straits, Bruce C., 1990: The Social-Context of Voter Turnout, in: Public Opinion Quarterly 54(1), 64–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straits, Bruce C., 1991: Bringing Strong Ties Back In: Interpersonal Gateways to Political Information and Influence, in: Public Opinion Quarterly 55(3), 432–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swidler, Ann, 2003: Talk of Love: How Culture Matters. Chicago.

  • Verba, Sidney/ Burns, Nancy/ Schlozman, Kay, 2005: Family Ties: Understanding the Intergenerational Transmission of Political Participation, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 95–116.

  • Walsh, Katherine Cramer, 2004: Talking about Politics: Informal Groups and Social Identity in American Life. Chicago.

  • Weber, Max, 1978 [1922]: Economy and Society. Berkeley.

  • Zizzo, Daniel John, 2003: Empirical Evidence on Interdependent Preferences: Nature or Nurture, in: Cambridge Journal of Economics 27, 867–880.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zizzo, Daniel John, 2005: Economic Man: Self-Interest and Rational Choice, in: Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28, 837–838.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), 2005a: The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia.

  • Zuckerman, Alan S., 2005b: Returning to the Social Logic of Politics, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 3–20.

  • Zuckerman, Alan S./ Dasović, Josip/ Fitzgerald, Jennifer, 2005: Do Couples Support the Same Political Parties? Sometimes: Evidence from British and German Household Panel Surveys, in: Zuckerman, Alan S. (ed.), The Social Logic of Politics. Philadelphia, 75–94.

  • Zuckerman, Alan S./ Dasović, Josip/ Fitzgerald, Jennifer, 2007: Partisan Families: The Social Logic of Bounded Partisanship in Germany and Britain. New York.

  • Zuckerman, Alan S./ Kotler-Berkowitz, Laurence A., 1998: Politics and Society: Political Diversity and Uniformity in Households as a Theoretical Puzzle, in: Comparative Political Studies 31(4), 464–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, Ezra/ Turco, Catherine, 2008: Identity and the Explanation of Action, in: Bearman, Peter/ Hedström, Peter (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology. New York [forthcoming].

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Alan S. Zuckerman

Authors
  1. Alan S. Zuckerman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan S. Zuckerman.

Additional information

My thanks to Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck for his encouragement and for the critical comments of several anonymous referees and to Josip Dasović and Jennifer Fitzgerald, my co-authors of Partisan Families: the Social Logic of Bounded Partisanship in Germany and Britain (Zuckerman et al. 2007). Material from that book appears in this essay.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zuckerman, A.S. The social logic of political choice: Picking a political party in the context of immediate social circles. PVS 48, 633–649 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-007-0125-3

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-007-0125-3

Schlagwörter

  • Parteien
  • Wahlen
  • Rational-Choice-Theorie

Keywords

  • Partisanship
  • Political Choices
  • Rational Choice Theory
  • Social Learning
  • Social Logic of Politics