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COGNITIVE STRUCTURE, UNCERTAINTY, AND THE RATIONALITY OF POLITICAL ACTION: A SYNTHESIS OF ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES *
Author(s) -
LEHNER FRANZ
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1975.tb00781.x
Subject(s) - rationality , politics , argument (complex analysis) , positive economics , action (physics) , cognition , field (mathematics) , political action , information processing , psychology , epistemology , collective action , social psychology , economics , sociology , cognitive psychology , political science , law , philosophy , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , pure mathematics
This article proposes a social‐psychological modification to the economic theory of politics, in particular to the theory of Anthony Downs. Its focal point is the relationship between political behavior and uncertainty. The social‐psychological modification permits a more systematic examination of the individual processing of information and its consequences for individual and collective behavior, and is not concerned with the entire field of application of the economic theory of politics. The argument is presented theoretically, and no empirical evidence is offered in support of the proposed modification.