Princeton Studies in Political Behavior

"Winner of the Robert E. Lane Award, Political Psychology Section of the American Political Science Association" "One of Choice Reviews' Outstanding Academic Titles of 2018" Gwyneth H. McClendon is an assistant professor in the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University. How envy, spite, and the pursuit of admiration influence politics Why do governments underspend on policies that would make their constituents better off? Why do people participate in contentious politics when they could reap benefits if they were to abstain? In Envy in Politics, Gwyneth McClendon contends that if we want to understand these and other forms of puzzling political behavior, we should pay attention to envy, spite, and the pursuit of admiration--all manifestations of our desire to maintain or enhance our status within groups. Drawing together insights from political philosophy, behavioral economics, psychology, and anthropology, McClendon explores how and under what conditions status motivations influence politics. Through surveys, case studies, interviews, and an experiment, McClendon argues that when concerns about in-group status are unmanaged by social conventions or are explicitly primed by elites, status motivations can become drivers of public opinion and political participation. McClendon focuses on the United States and South Africa-two countries that provide tough tests for her arguments while also demonstrating that the arguments apply in different contexts. From debates over redistribution to the mobilization of collective action, Envy in Politics presents the first theoretical and empirical investigation of the connection between status motivations and political behavior. "Envy {in Politics} is a brilliant, thought-provoking book that will be studied and referenced for years to come."---Laura Seay, Washington Post "Overall, this excellent, eclectic, and thought-provoking book is sure to inspire intense discussion and significant follow-up research."---M.R. Michelson, Choice "Envy in Politics gracefully mixes social science with political theory. The writing is elegant and incisive and the analysis penetrating and persuasive. This book proclaims the arrival of a major scholar."-Robert H. Bates, Harvard University "Where political behavior meets behavioral economics, we find political misbehavior. Brilliantly advancing this emerging research agenda, Envy in Politics marries timeless theoretical insights with cutting-edge methods, and establishes that citizens engage in politics not just to secure gains for themselves, but to impose losses on others."-Dan Slater, University of Michigan "McClendon's thoughtful book takes seriously the idea that humans are motivated not just by how well off they are but by how they rank compared to others-particularly to those around them. Though ignored in standard models of political behavior, status concerns, McClendon shows, help explain a multitude of political puzzles."-Macartan Humphreys, Columbia University and WZB Berlin Social Science Center "In Envy in Politics, McClendon shows that envy affects political behavior in varied and interesting ways that political scientists have previously ignored. This thought-provoking and important book is a very good read."-Ruth Grant, Duke University "This book is likely the most comprehensive study of how envy and status-based motivations can shape political outcomes. It integrates material from a wide number of social science studies, develops clear definitions and testable hypotheses, and demonstrates the power of status motivations on important political decisions. McClendon's research is impressive."-Roger Petersen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"Winner of the Ed A Hewett Book Prize, Association for Slavic, Eastern European, & Eurasian Studies" Bryn Rosenfeld is assistant professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University. How middle-class economic dependence on the state impedes democratization and contributes to authoritarian resilience Conventional wisdom holds that the rising middle classes are a force for democracy. Yet in post-Soviet countries like Russia, where the middle class has grown rapidly, authoritarianism is deepening. Challenging a basic tenet of democratization theory, Bryn Rosenfeld shows how the middle classes can actually be a source of support for autocracy and authoritarian resilience, and reveals why development and economic growth do not necessarily lead to greater democracy. In pursuit of development, authoritarian states often employ large swaths of the middle class in state administration, the government budget sector, and state enterprises. Drawing on attitudinal surveys, unique data on protest behavior, and extensive fieldwork in the post-Soviet region, Rosenfeld documents how the failure of the middle class to gain economic autonomy from the state stymies support for political change, and how state economic engagement reduces middle-class demands for democracy and weakens prodemocratic coalitions. The Autocratic Middle Class makes a vital contribution to the study of democratization, showing how dependence on the state weakens the incentives of key societal actors to prefer and pursue democracy. "Rosenfeld's book is essential reading for anyone interested in questions of development and democratisation. In its successful effort to illuminate the role of the middle class in promoting democracy, it should serve as an important reference point for future scholarship in the field. As such, it deserves wide attention."---Europe-Asia Studies, Zuzanna Brunarska "A must-read for anyone interested in autocratic politics. . . . The Autocratic Middle Class is a masterclass in the analysis of public opinion and an important contribution to the literature on autocratic politics and democratization.-Natalie Wenzell Letsa, Political Science Quarterly" "Bryn Rosenfeld's marvelous new book revolutionizes our understanding of the role of the middle classes in democracy. Her groundbreaking study, built on innovative and rigorous mixed-methods research in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and beyond, argues that there is no single 'middle class' but autocratic and democratic varieties. A true must-read."-Ben Ansell, Nuffield College and University of Oxford "The Autocratic Middle Class is a gem. By demonstrating how state employment can dampen middle-class support for democracy, Bryn Rosenfeld clarifies one of the most important arguments in social science. This is the best work on the sources of democratic attitudes in the postcommunist region to date and deserves a wide audience."-Timothy M. Frye, Columbia University "Bryn Rosenfeld has written a wonderful book about the democratic constraints the middle classes face in postcommunist states, bringing an array of impressive data to advance her arguments. Rosenfeld offers excellent insight on authoritarian durability in the face of the 'democratizing forces' of economic growth and middle-class expansion."-Amaney A. Jamal, Princeton University "In The Autocratic Middle Class, Rosenfeld takes on one of the holy grails of comparative politics-that the middle class is necessary to deliver democracy-and makes an extremely convincing argument against seeing the middle class as a monolithic entity. I expect this book to make an enormous contribution to the field of comparative politics; it is a must-read for scholars of postcommunist politics and for anyone hoping to understand democratization in the modern era."-Joshua A. Tucker, director of the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia at New York University

"Winner of the William H. Riker Book Award, Political Economy Section of the American Political Science Association" "Best Book of the Year by one of Politico's Top 50 Thinkers (Sean McElwee)" Avidit Acharya is assistant professor of political science at Stanford University. Matthew Blackwell is assistant professor of government at Harvard University. Maya Sen is associate professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The lasting effects of slavery on contemporary political attitudes in the American South Despite dramatic social transformations in the United States during the last 150 years, the South has remained staunchly conservative. Southerners are more likely to support Republican candidates, gun rights, and the death penalty, and southern whites harbor higher levels of racial resentment than whites in other parts of the country. Why haven't these sentiments evolved or changed? Deep Roots shows that the entrenched political and racial views of contemporary white southerners are a direct consequence of the region's slaveholding history, which continues to shape economic, political, and social spheres. Today, southern whites who live in areas once reliant on slavery-compared to areas that were not-are more racially hostile and less amenable to policies that could promote black progress. Highlighting the connection between historical institutions and contemporary political attitudes, the authors explore the period following the Civil War when elite whites in former bastions of slavery had political and economic incentives to encourage the development of anti-black laws and practices. Deep Roots shows that these forces created a local political culture steeped in racial prejudice, and that these viewpoints have been passed down over generations, from parents to children and via communities, through a process called behavioral path dependence. While legislation such as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act made huge strides in increasing economic opportunity and reducing educational disparities, southern slavery has had a profound, lasting, and self-reinforcing influence on regional and national politics that can still be felt today. A groundbreaking look at the ways institutions of the past continue to sway attitudes of the present, Deep Roots demonstrates how social beliefs persist long after the formal policies that created those beliefs have been eradicated. "This book is one of the most mind-blowing books I've encountered recently." "Scholars of racial attitudes have long considered how such attitudes are transmitted across generations through history, culture, and institutions, and Deep Roots makes a historically penetrating and theoretically meaningful contribution to that body of literature. The book is engaging and thorough in its analysis and puts forth theory that will be useful for readers specifically interested in the intersections of political geography, racial attitudes, and political behavior."---Amber Spry, Science "Avidit Acharya, Matthew Blackwell, and Maya Sen powerfully argue in their recent book Deep Roots: How Slavery Still Shapes Southern Politics, it is the legacy of slavery and post-Civil War segregation that gave rise to the South's current political culture."---Jeffrey D. Sachs, Project Syndicate "A timely tome which explains why, from neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville to Virginia politicians donning blackface, when it comes to the South, the more things change, the more they remain insane."---Kam Williams, Tri-State Defender "In this major new interpretation of southern politics, Acharya, Blackwell, and Sen provide important evidence demonstrating that present-day racial and partisan cleavages among southern whites can be traced directly back to the legacy of slavery. The authors' skillful use of a wide range of data sources offers rich insights into the connections between historical institutions and contemporary po

Kathleen E. Powers is assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College. Website kepowers.com Twitter @ke_powers How the ideas that animate nationalism influence whether it causes-or calms-conflict With nationalism on the rise around the world, many worry that nationalistic attitudes could lead to a surge in deadly conflict. To combat this trend, federations like the European Union have tried to build inclusive regional identities to overcome nationalist distrust and inspire international cooperation. Yet not all nationalisms are alike. Nationalisms in International Politics draws on insights from psychology to explore when nationalist commitments promote conflict-and when they foster cooperation. Challenging the received wisdom about nationalism and military aggression, Kathleen Powers differentiates nationalisms built on unity from those built on equality, and explains how each of these norms give rise to distinct foreign policy attitudes. Combining innovative US experiments with fresh analyses of European mass and elite survey data, she argues that unity encourages support for external conflict and undermines regional trust and cooperation, whereas equality mitigates militarism and facilitates support for security cooperation. Nationalisms in International Politics provides a rigorous and compelling look at how different forms of nationalism shape foreign policy attitudes, and raises important questions about whether transnational identities increase support for cooperation or undermine it. "One of the most important books on nationalism in international relations in the past decade. Powers challenges conventional wisdom about the linkage between nationalism and support for war while building on work in anthropology and social psychology to offer a unified framework that applies both to national and supranational identities."-Joshua D. Kertzer, author of Resolve in International Politics "Provocative, compelling, and convincing. Powers draws on a powerful and robust theory in social psychology, that of social identity theory, to explain the different forms of nationalism and their consequences for foreign policy."-Rose McDermott, author of Presidential Leadership, Illness, and Decision Making

Nicholas Carnes is the Creed C. Black Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. He is the author of White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. Why working-class Americans almost never become politicians, what that means for democracy, and what reformers can do about it Why are Americans governed by the rich? Millionaires make up only three percent of the public but control all three branches of the federal government. How did this happen? What stops lower-income and working-class Americans from becoming politicians? The first book to answer these urgent questions, The Cash Ceiling provides a compelling and comprehensive account of why so few working-class people hold office-and what reformers can do about it. Using extensive data on candidates, politicians, party leaders, and voters, Nicholas Carnes debunks popular misconceptions (like the idea that workers are unelectable or unqualified to govern), identifies the factors that keep lower-class Americans off the ballot and out of political institutions, and evaluates a variety of reform proposals. In the United States, Carnes shows, elections have a built-in "cash ceiling," a series of structural barriers that make it almost impossible for the working-class to run for public office. Elections take a serious toll on candidates, many working-class Americans simply can't shoulder the practical burdens, and civic and political leaders often pass them over in favor of white-collar candidates. But these obstacles aren't inevitable. Pilot programs to recruit, train, and support working-class candidates have the potential to increase the economic diversity of our governing institutions and ultimately amplify the voices of ordinary citizens. Who runs for office goes to the heart of whether we will have a democracy that is representative or not. The Cash Ceiling shows that the best hope for combating the oversized political influence of the rich might simply be to help more working-class Americans become politicians. "{A} detailed but very accessible study. . . . Carnes deserves credit for focusing attention on an under-the-radar issue." "The Cash Ceiling is convincing thanks to its well-written arguments, easy-to-understand graphs and data, and moving anecdotes. . . . The tone is always passionate and persuasive. . . . The text expertly analyzes every aspect of the issue at hand, asking why working-class Americans do not run for office in the first place, why they do not get recruited, and so on."---Mya Alexice, Foreword Reviews "This is a great book for political science students (graduate and undergraduate) who are just learning about the system, rather than attempting to engage with it." "Innovative, clearly written, and carefully researched. - William W. Franko, Political Science Quarterly" "This is simply a clear and brilliant book. It not only tackles the very important question of why there are so few working-class representatives in public office, but skillfully offers up practical and already piloted solutions as well." -Katherine J. Cramer, author of The Politics of Resentment "In this pathbreaking, lively, and deeply researched book, Nicholas Carnes shows that electing more working people and fewer wealthy professionals would greatly enhance both political and economic equality. Even more surprising, he shows it can be done-with research-backed reforms that would shatter the 'cash ceiling' that blocks working-class Democrats and Republicans alike. Don't believe the cynics who say only the rich can run for office. The solution is literally in your hands."-Jacob S. Hacker, coauthor of Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer-and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class "Timely, informative, engaging, and persuasive, this excellent book addresses critical questions about representation and i

"Honorable Mention for the Luebbert Book Award, Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association" "Winner of the Robert A. Dahl Award, American Political Science Association" Elizabeth R. Nugent is assistant professor of political science at Yale University. Twitter @ernugent How differing forms of repression shape the outcomes of democratic transitions In the wake of the Arab Spring, newly empowered factions in Tunisia and Egypt vowed to work together to establish democracy. In Tunisia, political elites passed a new constitution, held parliamentary elections, and demonstrated the strength of their democracy with a peaceful transfer of power. Yet in Egypt, unity crumbled due to polarization among elites. Presenting a new theory of polarization under authoritarianism, After Repression reveals how polarization and the legacies of repression led to these substantially divergent political outcomes. Drawing on original interviews and a wealth of new historical data, Elizabeth Nugent documents polarization among the opposition in Tunisia and Egypt prior to the Arab Spring, tracing how different kinds of repression influenced the bonds between opposition groups. She demonstrates how widespread repression created shared political identities and decreased polarization-such as in Tunisia-while targeted repression like that carried out against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt led opposition groups to build distinct identities that increased polarization among them. This helps explain why elites in Tunisia were able to compromise, cooperate, and continue on the path to democratic consolidation while deeply polarized elites in Egypt contributed to the rapid reentrenchment of authoritarianism. Providing vital new insights into the ways repression shapes polarization, After Repression helps to explain what happened in the turbulent days following the Arab Spring and illuminates the obstacles to democratic transitions around the world. "In this spectacular book on the psychological legacies of repression, Elizabeth Nugent marshals a breathtaking combination of observational and experimental evidence from North Africa to explain why some fledgling democracies are able to transcend discord and cement participatory politics while in others, pitched ideological battles yield authoritarian renewal. A towering achievement and a vital contribution to the comparative study of democratization."-Tarek Masoud, Harvard University "Elizabeth Nugent has written an instant classic. Scholars of democratic transitions will no longer be able to downplay the importance of either repressive legacies or psychological mechanisms after reading Nugent's impressive account."-Dan Slater, University of Michigan "Compelling. Nugent delves deeply into the microfoundations of regime transitions, presenting a novel and important theory about the enduring effects of repression under authoritarian rule on the outcomes of democratic transitions."-Melani Cammett, author of Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon "After Repression provides an original and persuasive argument about how repressive strategies under dictatorship affect politics and stability after democratic transitions. This excellent book has important big-picture implications for thinking about the stability of new democracies."-Rory Truex, author of Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China

"Winner of the American Political Science Association Best Book Award" "Co-Winner of the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section Best Book Award, American Political Science Association" "Finalist for the PROSE Award in Government and Politics, Association of American Publishers" Ismail K. White is professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University. White is the coeditor of African-American Political Psychology: Identity, Opinion, and Action in the Post-Civil Rights Era. Chryl N. Laird is assistant professor of political science at the University of Maryland. Twitter @chryllaird A groundbreaking look at how group expectations unify Black Americans in their support of the Democratic party Black Americans are by far the most unified racial group in American electoral politics, with 80 to 90 percent identifying as Democrats-a surprising figure given that nearly a third now also identify as ideologically conservative, up from less than 10 percent in the 1970s. Why has ideological change failed to push more Black Americans into the Republican Party? Steadfast Democrats answers this question with a pathbreaking new theory that foregrounds the specificity of the Black American experience and illuminates social pressure as the key element of Black Americans' unwavering support for the Democratic Party. Ismail White and Chryl Laird argue that the roots of Black political unity were established through the adversities of slavery and segregation, when Black Americans forged uniquely strong social bonds for survival and resistance. White and Laird explain how these tight communities have continued to produce and enforce political norms-including Democratic Party identification in the post–Civil Rights era. The social experience of race for Black Americans is thus fundamental to their political choices. Black voters are uniquely influenced by the social expectations of other Black Americans to prioritize the group's ongoing struggle for freedom and equality. When navigating the choice of supporting a political party, this social expectation translates into affiliation with the Democratic Party. Through fresh analysis of survey data and original experiments, White and Laird explore where and how Black political norms are enforced, what this means for the future of Black politics, and how this framework can be used to understand the electoral behavior of other communities. An innovative explanation for why Black Americans continue in political lockstep, Steadfast Democrats sheds light on the motivations consolidating an influential portion of the American electoral population. "Provocative."---Charles Lane, Washington Post "White and Laird take readers on a theoretically rich and empirically sophisticated journey to explore the social processes that constrain self-interest on the way to political unity. Through brilliant experiments and thirty years of data, they compellingly show that closing ranks is not a reflexive process but rather, racial political unity must be actively maintained through enforced norms. Reminiscent of Dawson's Behind the Mule, White and Laird have given scholars of identity and politics a gift."-Vesla M. Weaver, Johns Hopkins University "With compelling evidence, Steadfast Democrats attacks head-on the long-dominant understanding of Black politics. This terrific book is one of the most exciting, important, and original contributions to the literature of racial politics in decades."-Martin Gilens, University of California, Los Angeles "Why, despite their growing conservativism, have Blacks maintained nearly unanimous support for Democratic candidates? White and Laird offer and test an innovative theory: Blacks' high level of social interconnection enforces norms of Black political behavior. Elegantly argued and replete with compelling evidence, this outstanding book is a breakthrough in our understanding of partisan identity in contemporary U.S. politics."-Lauren Davenport, auth

How the entertainment narrative of upward mobility distorts the harsh economic realities in America In an age of growing wealth disparities, politicians on both sides of the aisle are sounding the alarm about the fading American Dream. Yet despite all evidence to the contrary, many still view the United States as the land of opportunity. The American Mirage addresses this puzzle by exposing the stark reality of today's media landscape, revealing how popular entertainment media shapes politics and public opinion in an increasingly news-avoiding nation. Drawing on an eclectic array of original data, Eunji Kim demonstrates how, amid a dazzling array of media choices, many Americans simply are not consuming the news. Instead, millions flock to entertainment programs that showcase real-life success stories, such as American Idol, Shark Tank, and MasterChef. Kim examines how shows like these leave viewers confoundingly optimistic about the prospects of upward mobility, promoting a false narrative of rugged individualism and meritocracy that contradicts what is being reported in the news. By taking seriously what people casually watch every day, The American Mirage shows how rags-to-riches programs perpetuate the myth of the American Dream, glorifying the economic winners, fostering tolerance for income inequality, and dampening support for redistributive policies that could improve people's lives. Eunji Kim is assistant professor of political science at Columbia University. "In this pathbreaking book, Kim shows why understanding American politics requires understanding American society, including seemingly apolitical parts. The American Mirage sets an example of what cutting-edge social science looks like."-James Druckman, coauthor of Partisan Hostility and American Democracy "Scholars have long bemoaned the general public's inattention to political news, a state of affairs that has worsened as the explosion of entertainment media has further crowded out attention to informational media in recent decades. This book examines what scholars have largely overlooked-that entertainment media, especially reality TV, convey political narratives and affect political attitudes. The varied analyses will make scholars reexamine their views, and as an added bonus, the book is a fun read besides."-Morris P. Fiorina, Stanford University "A terrific book with important and novel insights on the role of entertainment media in American politics. The American Mirage brings a fresh perspective and an abundance of original evidence to bear on one of the most important features of contemporary politics. A must-read for anyone interested in the political consequences of our changing media environment."-Martin Gilens, University of California, Los Angeles "Kim has written a brilliant book that will change how we perceive the scope of political communication. It is careful, insightful, and a joy to read. This book will change not only how we understand political information, but how we understand the way people interpret the world around them as they make political decisions. It is an important push and reframe for disciplines that had previously focused only on news."-Yanna Krupnikov, coauthor of The Other Divide "Eye-opening. . . . Kim astutely compares reality shows' persuasive power to that of Gilded Age dime novels, notably Horatio Alger's 'tales of personal triumph,' in which protagonists rose 'from obscurity to prosperity' by doing good deeds. She also takes aim at her field, asserting that political science's 'echo chambers of scholarly assumptions' have led it to ignore how political belief is affected by supposedly 'apolitical' media. The result is a troubling assessment of propaganda in pop culture." "An insightful inquiry into America's enmeshed political and entertainment landscapes." "By design, reality TV was always too good to be true, but its falsehoods are, Kim argues, more pe

Grigore Pop-Eleches is professor of politics and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He is the author of From Economic Crisis to Reform. Joshua A. Tucker is professor of politics and (by courtesy) Russian and Slavic studies and data science at New York University. He is the author of Regional Economic Voting: Russia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, 1990–1999. It has long been assumed that the historical legacy of Soviet Communism would have an important effect on post-communist states. However, prior research has focused primarily on the institutional legacy of communism. Communism's Shadow instead turns the focus to the individuals who inhabit post-communist countries, presenting a rigorous assessment of the legacy of communism on political attitudes. Post-communist citizens hold political, economic, and social opinions that consistently differ from individuals in other countries. Grigore Pop-Eleches and Joshua Tucker introduce two distinct frameworks to explain these differences, the first of which focuses on the effects of living in a post-communist country, and the second on living through communism. Drawing on large-scale research encompassing post-communist states and other countries around the globe, the authors demonstrate that living through communism has a clear, consistent influence on why citizens in post-communist countries are, on average, less supportive of democracy and markets and more supportive of state-provided social welfare. The longer citizens have lived through communism, especially as adults, the greater their support for beliefs associated with communist ideology-the one exception being opinions regarding gender equality. A thorough and nuanced examination of communist legacies' lasting influence on public opinion, Communism's Shadow highlights the ways in which political beliefs can outlast institutional regimes. "[An] immensely ambitious, careful, and data-rich study. . . . Those trying to pin down with greater precision the legacy of communism now have a model to emulate."---Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs "In this immensely ambitious, careful, and data-rich study, Pop-Eleches and Tucker do not merely explore the historical legacy of communism in eastern Europe; they also tackle the far more difficult problem of distinguishing its impact from that of other factors." "This book should be widely read by those interested in post-communist politics and societies, but it should also find a broader audience, as it sets a high standard in how to do research with public opinion datasets and wrestle with questions of the legacy effects of prior political systems."---Paul Kubicek, Slavic Review "This is a pioneering and fascinating analysis. While previous scholarship has examined the impact of communist legacies on institutions and collective actors, Pop-Eleches and Tucker focus on the behavioral legacies of communism: how living through communism changed political attitudes and beliefs regarding democracy, markets, social welfare, and gender equality. Compelling, rigorous, and innovative, this study is a must-read for all those interested in authoritarian legacies, post-communist regimes, and the formation of political values."-Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University "Both sophisticated and accessible, Communism's Shadow is a remarkable, compelling contribution to our understanding of political culture, tracing how years of personal exposure to communist regimes shaped transitory and sometimes enduring perceptions of democracy, economic markets, state social welfare guarantees, and gender equality."-G. Bingham Powell Jr., University of Rochester "The impressive theoretical breadth and empirical depth of Communism's Shadow befit its monumental subject-how decades of Soviet communism shaped (and continue to shape) the political and social attitudes of ordinary people. Pop-Eleches and Tucker's analysis is fascinating and persuasive

"A Foreign Affairs Best of Books" Larry M. Bartels is University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Law and May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University. His books include Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age and (with Christopher H. Achen) Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (both Princeton). Why leaders, not citizens, are the driving force in Europe's crisis of democracy A seeming explosion of support for right-wing populist parties has triggered widespread fears that liberal democracy is facing its worst crisis since the 1930s. Democracy Erodes from the Top reveals that the real crisis stems not from an increasingly populist public but from political leaders who exploit or mismanage the chronic vulnerabilities of democracy. In this provocative book, Larry Bartels dismantles the pervasive myth of a populist wave in contemporary European public opinion. While there has always been a substantial reservoir of populist sentiment, Europeans are no less trusting of their politicians and parliaments than they were two decades ago, no less enthusiastic about European integration, and no less satisfied with the workings of democracy. Anti-immigrant sentiment has waned. Electoral support for right-wing populist parties has increased only modestly, reflecting the idiosyncratic successes of populist entrepreneurs, the failures of mainstream parties, and media hype. Europe's most sobering examples of democratic backsliding-in Hungary and Poland-occurred not because voters wanted authoritarianism but because conventional conservative parties, once elected, seized opportunities to entrench themselves in power. By demonstrating the inadequacy of conventional bottom-up interpretations of Europe's political crisis, Democracy Erodes from the Top turns our understanding of democratic politics upside down. "Bartels, a leading analyst of electoral democracy and public opinion in the United States, turns here to a central question in European politics: Do right-wing populist parties pose a threat to democracy, moderate politics, and multilateral cooperation? His point in this important book is simple yet powerful."---Andrew Moravcsik, Foreign Affairs "Eye-opening."---Jan-Werner Mueller, Project Syndicate "This pathbreaking book offers compelling evidence that democratic erosion begins at the top and not with an autonomous surge in antidemocratic sentiments among the citizenry at the bottom. It should be read by anyone interested in Europe, democracy, or the interaction of elites and masses."-Nancy Bermeo, Nuffield Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford, and Professor of Politics Emeritus, Princeton University "This compelling book is a powerful antidote to the widespread view that European democracy is facing a huge crisis and that voters are fleeing to support populist ideologies and parties. Democracy Erodes from the Top is a magisterial and refreshing debunking of alarmist views about European public opinion by a world-class political scientist."-André Blais, University of Montreal "Is populist sentiment on the rise? Does it imperil democracy? For evidence-based answers, there's no one better to turn to than Larry Bartels. This careful investigation of the European experience suggests our concern ought to be focused on political leaders and institutions rather than ordinary citizens."-Lane Kenworthy, author of Social Democratic Capitalism "Bartels brilliantly challenges the apocalyptic literature about the coming death of democracy. Drawing on a wealth of data from the European Social Survey, he shows convincingly that citizens have not become more receptive to right-wing populism. When democracies turn illiberal as in Hungary or Poland, the key actors are the political elites, not public opinions. A refreshing perspective, a major book."-Nonna Mayer, Sciences Po

Adam Michael Auerbach is associate professor in the School of International Service at American University. He is the author of Demanding Development. Tariq Thachil is the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India and professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Elite Parties, Poor Voters. How poor migrants shape city politics during urbanization As the Global South rapidly urbanizes, millions of people have migrated from the countryside to urban slums, which now house one billion people worldwide. The transformative potential of urbanization hinges on whether and how poor migrants are integrated into city politics. Popular and scholarly accounts paint migrant slums as exhausted by dispossession, subdued by local dons, bought off by wily politicians, or polarized by ethnic appeals. Migrants and Machine Politics shows how slum residents in India routinely defy such portrayals, actively constructing and wielding political machine networks to demand important, albeit imperfect, representation and responsiveness within the country's expanding cities. Drawing on years of pioneering fieldwork in India's slums, including ethnographic observation, interviews, surveys, and experiments, Adam Michael Auerbach and Tariq Thachil reveal how migrants harness forces of political competition-as residents, voters, community leaders, and party workers-to sow unexpected seeds of accountability within city politics. This multifaceted agency provokes new questions about how political networks form during urbanization. In answering these questions, this book overturns longstanding assumptions about how political machines exploit the urban poor to stifle competition, foster ethnic favoritism, and entrench vote buying. By documenting how poor migrants actively shape urban politics in counterintuitive ways, Migrants and Machine Politics sheds new light on the political consequences of urbanization across India and the Global South. "This outstanding book is a model of social-science research. Its findings push against the literature on brokers in important and profound ways, highlighting the origins and agency of party machines. Migrants and Machine Politics recasts political networks as bridges to officials and services and not just as instruments of mobilization, coercion, and control."-Allen Hicken, University of Michigan "This book is a pioneering, rigorous, and beautifully written contribution to topics ranging from urban politics to representation and accountability in democracies. Going against the grain of much of the literature, it provides a vivid sense of how the urban poor exercise their political agency."-Pratap B. Mehta, Princeton University "This pathbreaking book is both a crucial contribution to our understanding of local-level democracy and an extraordinary example of the value of integrating ethnography with multimethod empirical research. Migrants and Machine Politics is a must-read for scholars of distributive politics, political representation, and urban politics."-Maria Victoria Murillo, Columbia University "Auerbach and Thachil's deep fieldwork and surveys show how local brokers pick the projects that advance their political careers and reputations, how voters select the brokers who are best able to bring development, and how political parties pick the brokers who are most competent in delivering the votes. A tour de force in the comparative study of clientelism."-Steven I. Wilkinson, author of Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India "This excellent book enhances our understanding of party and machine politics in the urban slums of India. Auerbach and Thachil capture the multifaceted nature of the politics underlying network formation between clients and patrons in India's cities."-Amaney A. Jamal, author of Of Empires and Citizens: Pro-American Democracy or No Democracy at All? "A tour de for

"Winner of the American Political Science Association Best Book Award" Diana C. Mutz is the Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is director of the Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics. Her books include In-Your-Face Politics (Princeton) and Hearing the Other Side. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. From acclaimed political scientist Diana Mutz, a revealing look at why people's attitudes on trade differ from their own self-interest Winners and Losers challenges conventional wisdom about how American citizens form opinions on international trade. While dominant explanations in economics emphasize personal self-interest-and whether individuals gain or lose financially as a result of trade-this book takes a psychological approach, demonstrating how people view the complex world of international trade through the lens of interpersonal relations. Drawing on psychological theories of preference formation as well as original surveys and experiments, Diana Mutz finds that in contrast to the economic view of trade as cooperation for mutual benefit, many Americans view trade as a competition between the United States and other countries-a contest of us versus them. These people favor trade as long as they see Americans as the "winners" in these interactions, viewing trade as a way to establish dominance over foreign competitors. For others, trade is a means of maintaining more peaceful relations between countries. Just as individuals may exchange gifts to cement relationships, international trade is a tie that binds nations together in trust and cooperation. Winners and Losers reveals how people's orientations toward in-groups and out-groups play a central role in influencing how they think about trade with foreign countries, and shows how a better understanding of the psychological underpinnings of public opinion can lead to lasting economic and societal benefits. "This landmark book is the most compelling and comprehensive challenge available to the prevailing economic interpretations of where American preferences about foreign trade come from. Winners and Losers is a tour de force."-Richard K. Herrmann, coeditor of Ending the Cold War: Interpretations, Causation, and the Study of International Relations "Persuasive. Mutz draws on a wide range of novel survey data and experiments to offer what is perhaps the broadest and most original account of how public attitudes about trade are based on psychological factors rather than calculations of economic self-interest."-John Sides, coauthor of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America

"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year" Adam J. Berinsky is the Mitsui Professor of Political Science at MIT and the founding director of the MIT Political Experiments Research Lab. A specialist in the fields of political behavior and public opinion, he is the author of Silent Voices: Public Opinion and Political Participation in America (Princeton) and In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq. Why debunked political rumors persist and how to combat them Political rumors and misinformation pollute the political landscape. This is not a recent phenomenon; before the currently rampant and unfounded rumors about a stolen election and vote-rigging, there were other rumors that continued to spread even after they were thoroughly debunked, including doubts about 9/11 (an "inside job") and the furor over President Obama's birthplace and birth certificate. If misinformation crowds out the truth, how can Americans communicate with one another about important issues? In this book, Adam Berinsky examines why political rumors exist and persist despite their unsubstantiated and refuted claims, who is most likely to believe them, and how to combat them. Drawing on original survey and experimental data, Berinsky shows that a tendency toward conspiratorial thinking and vehement partisan attachment fuel belief in rumors. Yet the reach of rumors is wide, and Berinsky argues that in fighting misinformation, it is as important to target the undecided and the uncertain as it is the true believers. We're all vulnerable to misinformation, and public skepticism about the veracity of political facts is damaging to democracy. Moreover, in a world where most people simply don't pay attention to politics, political leaders are often guilty of disseminating false information-and failing to correct it when it is proven wrong. Berinsky suggests that we should focus on the messenger as much as the message of rumors. Just as important as how misinformation is debunked is who does the debunking. "A thought-provoking journey through the intricate world of political rumors. . . . Invaluable for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of both misinformation and the complex scholarly conversation surrounding the topic." "Misinformation is perhaps the major societal challenge of our time. This book reflects more than a decade of thought and study by one of the world's preeminent experts on the topic. It offers a profound perspective on why misperceptions endure and what steps should (and should not) be used to address the problem. It is requisite reading for anyone who hopes to understand and address what has become a defining challenge of the twenty-first century."-James N. Druckman, Northwestern University "This is a comprehensive exploration of political rumors: who believes them, how they spread, and the toolkit of corrective strategies that scholars and practitioners must consider if they want to confront this problem. Importantly, Berinsky directs our attention to the people who are not yet 'true believers' (because they are uncertain about rumors) and the production side of misinformation. The end result is a book that is a conceptual and empirical tour de force."-Jennifer Jerit, Dartmouth College "Berinsky's Political Rumors brings together a decade's worth of research to offer the most comprehensive treatment to date of the prevalence of beliefs in false and unsupported claims, the reasons that people are vulnerable to them, and the challenges we face in trying to counter them. A crucially important examination of an issue of vital public concern."-Brendan Nyhan, Dartmouth College "Adam Berinsky has been studying misinformation and rumors longer than anyone, well before the contemporary panic about these topics. This book represents more than a decade of painstaking work, but it could not come at a better time. Anyone who cares about the pervasivene

Efrén Pérez is professor of political science and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His books include Diversity's Child: People of Color and the Politics of Identity. Margit Tavits is the William Taussig Professor in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Her books include Post-Communist Democracies and Party Organization. Why your political beliefs are influenced by the language you speak Voicing Politics brings together the latest findings from psychology and political science to reveal how the linguistic peculiarities of different languages can have meaningful consequences for political attitudes and beliefs around the world. Efrén Pérez and Margit Tavits demonstrate that different languages can make mental content more or less accessible and thereby shift political opinions and preferences in predictable directions. They rigorously test this hypothesis using carefully crafted experiments and rich cross-national survey data, showing how language shapes mass opinion in domains such as gender equality, LGBTQ rights, environmental conservation, ethnic relations, and candidate evaluations. Voicing Politics traces how these patterns emerge in polities spanning the globe, shedding essential light on how simple linguistic quirks can affect our political views. This incisive book calls on scholars of political behavior to take linguistic nuances more seriously and charts new directions for researchers across diverse fields. It explains how a stronger grasp of linguistic effects on political cognition can help us better understand how people form political attitudes and why political outcomes vary across nations and regions. "Significant and engaging. I know of no other empirical work that effectively demonstrates how language can shape our political attitudes, or that so persuasively shows how the effects of language differ from those of culture."-Ewa A. Golebiowska, author of The Many Faces of Tolerance "An important contribution to the discipline. Voicing Politics bridges the insights of linguistics and public-opinion scholarship, highlighting the linkages between the language people speak and the political views they espouse."-Cecilia Hyunjung Mo, University of California, Berkeley "Pérez and Tavits provide a remarkable account of the influence of language on political attitudes. In this original and creative book, they put forth a compelling and insightful argument using different experimental approaches, showing how language facilitates the processing of information in ways that shape political preferences."-Amaney A. Jamal, Princeton University "Voicing Politics is exhilarating in its creativity and ambition, testing the provocative thesis that language is not just something humans invented to describe the world, but a fundamental cause of how they see the world in the first place. Now, for the first time, Pérez and Tavits provide concrete evidence that each language may uniquely shape the way its speakers think about politics. Surely a must-read for political psychologists of race and ethnicity."-Nicholas Valentino, University of Michigan

"Co-Winner of the 2017 Alexander L. George Book Award, International Society of Political Psychology" Joshua D. Kertzer is assistant professor of government at Harvard University. Why do some leaders and segments of the public display remarkable persistence in confrontations in international politics, while others cut and run? The answer given by policymakers, pundits, and political scientists usually relates to issues of resolve. Yet, though we rely on resolve to explain almost every phenomenon in international politics-from prevailing at the bargaining table to winning on the battlefield-we don't understand what it is, how it works, or where it comes from. Resolve in International Politics draws on a growing body of research in psychology and behavioral economics to explore the foundations of this important idea. Joshua Kertzer argues that political will is more than just a metaphor or figure of speech: the same traits social scientists and decision-making scholars use to comprehend willpower in our daily lives also shape how we respond to the costs of war and conflict. Combining laboratory and survey experiments with studies of great power military interventions in the postwar era from 1946 to 2003, Kertzer shows how time and risk preferences, honor orientation, and self-control help explain the ways leaders and members of the public define the situations they face and weigh the trade-offs between the costs of fighting and the costs of backing down. Offering a novel in-depth look at how willpower functions in international relations, Resolve in International Politics has critical implications for understanding political psychology, public opinion about foreign policy, leaders in military interventions, and international security. "{A} marvelous book. . . . After perusing this erudite and tightly argued book . . . every reader will agree that resolve matters." "Important and impressive. . . . Kertzer's theoretically innovative and methodologically sophisticated book greatly improves our understanding of the crucial but underexplored concept of resolve. It is likely to be very influential in the field of international security and should be on the reading list of all scholars who study conflict bargaining, as well as those who take a behavioral approach."---Roseanne W. McManus, Perspectives on Politics "Resolve displays hard work and creativity."---L. Ali Khan, New York Journal of Books "Resolve is central to much international relations theorizing, but all too often is underanalyzed. Not in this book. Kertzer develops and tests the foundations of resolve by combining the characteristics of the actor and the situation. Using experiments and historical data, Resolve in International Politics moves us a big step forward."-Robert Jervis, Columbia University "This pathbreaking book is the first systematic look at the causes and consequences of resolve in international politics. The scholarship is terrifically sound; the writing is flawless, colorful yet clear. It is the tip in the spear of a renaissance in the study of decision making in this discipline."-Brian Rathbun, University of Southern California "While the concept of resolve is central to theories in the international security field, it has not been clearly defined. Ably integrating ideas from various areas, including psychology, journalism, and history, this engaging book makes a significant conceptual, theoretical, and methodological contribution to the role of resolve in international relations."-Deborah Welch Larson, University of California, Los Angeles "It is rare for a book to reconceptualize a well-established idea, and yet, this is exactly what Kertzer has done in quite an innovative fashion. Clarifying the causes of resolve, he sets out new methodological innovations to examine thorny issues in ways that will resonate far beyond the idea of resolve alone. A tour de force, this rich and original book will become the seminal and definitive treatme

What drives anti-immigrant bias, and how it can be mitigated. In the aftermath of the refugee crisis caused by conflicts in the Middle East and an increase in migration to Europe, European nations have witnessed a surge in discrimination targeted at immigrant minorities. To quell these conflicts, some governments have resorted to the adoption of coercive assimilation policies aimed at erasing differences between natives and immigrants. Are these policies the best method for reducing hostilities? Native Bias challenges the premise of such regulations by making the case for a civic integration model, based on shared social ideas defining the concept and practice of citizenship. Drawing from original surveys, survey experiments, and novel field experiments, Donghyun Danny Choi, Mathias Poertner, and Nicholas Sambanis show that although prejudice against immigrants is often driven by differences in traits such as appearance and religious practice, the suppression of such differences does not constitute the only path to integration. Instead, the authors demonstrate that similarities in ideas and value systems can serve as the foundation for a common identity, based on a shared concept of citizenship, overcoming the perceived social distance between natives and immigrants. Addressing one of the most pressing challenges of our time, Native Bias offers an original framework for understanding anti-immigrant discrimination and the processes through which it can be overcome.

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Government and Politics, Association of American Publishers" Daniel Q. Gillion is the Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Presidential Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Political Power of Protest and Governing with Words. How political protests and activism influence voters and candidates The "silent majority"-a phrase coined by Richard Nixon in 1969 in response to Vietnam War protests and later used by Donald Trump as a campaign slogan-refers to the supposed wedge that exists between protestors in the street and the voters at home. The Loud Minority upends this view by demonstrating that voters are in fact directly informed and influenced by protest activism. Consequently, as protests grow in America, every facet of the electoral process is touched by this loud minority, benefiting the political party perceived to be the most supportive of the protestors' messaging. Drawing on historical evidence, statistical data, and detailed interviews about protest activity since the 1960s, Daniel Gillion shows that electoral districts with protest activity are more likely to see increased voter turnout at the polls. Surprisingly, protest activities are also moneymaking endeavors for electoral politics, as voters donate more to political candidates who share the ideological leanings of activists. Finally, protests are a signal of political problems, encouraging experienced political challengers to run for office and hurting incumbents' chances of winning reelection. The silent majority may not speak by protesting themselves, but they clearly gesture for social change with their votes. An exploration of how protests affect voter behavior and warn of future electoral changes, The Loud Minority looks at the many ways that activism can shape democracy. "Though grounded in statistical analysis, the book is clear and readable, and it succeeds, by and large, in offering a theory and empirical analysis of how activism and the outcomes of elections are related. Pushing back against skepticism about the efficacy and purpose of protest, The Loud Minority makes an often impassioned case for viewing activism, social movements, and protest as essential elements of democratic life rather than irregular disruptions of it."---Eric Pineda, Nation "Accessible, powerful, and persuasive, The Loud Minority traces the ways that committed dissenters have animated and transformed American politics in the midst of an increasingly polarized electorate. Daniel Gillion delivers a masterful narrative about the power of protest to reflect and shape ideology, political discourse, and electoral outcomes in the United States. An essential book for our times."-Erica Chenoweth, Harvard University "The Loud Minority shows not only how the politics of protests have become a firm part of ideological partisan conflict in the United States but also how protests can directly affect elections: by increasing voter turnout, increasing campaign contributions, and motivating higher-quality candidates to run for office. Daniel Gillion's highly original book could not be more relevant to American politics today."-Robert Y. Shapiro, Columbia University "Is the 'silent majority' swayed by the 'loud minority' of protesters? Not always, according to Daniel Gillion's carefully gathered evidence. Even so, his new book highlights protesters' influence at each stage of the political process-in donations, party conventions and primaries, voting behavior, and grassroots social movements. This refreshing study is a testament to the growth of a social movement society and to the power of protest to defend-and sometimes challenge-democracy."-Sidney Tarrow, author of Power in Movement "Sociologists study protests and political scientists study elections, but until Daniel Gillion no one has successfully linked the two. Through innovative arguments and convincing analy

"Winner of the 2017 PROSE Award in Government & Politics, Association of American Publishers" "Winner of the 2017 David O. Sears Book Award, International Society of Political Psychology" "Winner of the 2017 Brian Farrell Book Prize, Political Studies Association of Ireland" "One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016" Christopher H. Achen is the Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences and professor of politics at Princeton University. His books include The European Union Decides. Larry M. Bartels holds the May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science at Vanderbilt University. His books include Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age (Princeton). Why our belief in government by the people is unrealistic-and what we can do about it Democracy for Realists assails the romantic folk-theory at the heart of contemporary thinking about democratic politics and government, and offers a provocative alternative view grounded in the actual human nature of democratic citizens. Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels deploy a wealth of social-scientific evidence, including ingenious original analyses of topics ranging from abortion politics and budget deficits to the Great Depression and shark attacks, to show that the familiar ideal of thoughtful citizens steering the ship of state from the voting booth is fundamentally misguided. They demonstrate that voters-even those who are well informed and politically engaged-mostly choose parties and candidates on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties, not political issues. They also show that voters adjust their policy views and even their perceptions of basic matters of fact to match those loyalties. When parties are roughly evenly matched, elections often turn on irrelevant or misleading considerations such as economic spurts or downturns beyond the incumbents' control; the outcomes are essentially random. Thus, voters do not control the course of public policy, even indirectly. Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Now with new analysis of the 2016 elections, Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government. "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 "In an important recent book, Democracy for Realists, Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels show that 'group attachments' and 'social identities' are key to understanding voting behavior."---Fareed Zakaria , Washington Post "It flies in the face of decades of political science conventional wisdom about 'the rational voter' and other such dicta, but it seems to me obviously true, particularly in our age."---Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books "{A} provocative book."---Edward Luce, Financial 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 "The most influential recent book on voting."---John Prideaux, The Economist "One of the most bracing books of political science to arrive in a long time. . . . An impressively comprehensive statement on the limits of electoral democrac