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Rationality and party activism: Encompassing tests of alternative models of political participation
Author(s) -
WHITELY PAUL F.,
SEYD PATRICK
Publication year - 1996
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.1475-6765.1996.tb00649.x
Subject(s) - explanatory power , rationality , explanatory model , incentive , politics , test (biology) , rational expectations , positive economics , economics , power (physics) , panel data , rational choice theory (criminology) , survey data collection , public economics , microeconomics , econometrics , political science , epistemology , law , paleontology , philosophy , statistics , physics , mathematics , biology , quantum mechanics
The purpose of this paper is to test a rational actor model of political participation against rival models to see which provides the best theoretical account of participation. This is done using data from the first panel survey of Labour party members in Britain. The tests use encompassing methodology, an approach to model building which arises out of recent developments in applied econometrics. The rational choice model is tested against a social‐psychological model, and a ‘general incentives’ model which has been utilized in earlier research to explain party activism. The results show that while the rational choice model has important explanatory power, it provides an incomplete account of participation. A ‘reduced form’ model is developed which encompasses the other models, and provides the best explanatory account of party activism.