Democracy for Realists by Christopher H. Achen and Larry Bartels

Democracy for Realists by Christopher H. Achen and Larry Bartels

Achen and Bartels challenge the conventional folk theory of democracy — that voters rationally evaluate policy and hold leaders accountable — with extensive empirical evidence that voting behaviour is driven far more by group identity, tribal loyalty and irrelevant factors than reasoned policy judgement.

Drawing on decades of political science research, they argue that elections routinely fail to produce genuinely responsive government, and propose a more realistic understanding of democratic legitimacy grounded in group identity rather than the idealised rational voter model most civic education still teaches.

An influential, data-driven critique of conventional democratic theory.

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