Political Behavior

“A lucidly written, shrewdly argued meditation on how democrats and dictators preserve political authority.” —Wall Street Journal Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith’s canonical book on political science turns conventional wisdom on its head. They start from a single proposition...

Why do nations that want peace still prepare for war? Why do alliances shift, powerful states compete, and governments sometimes set aside moral principles when vital interests are at stake? Political Realism for Beginners provides a clear, engaging introduction to one of the most influential ways of understanding international politics. Rather than beginning with how the world should work, political realism begins with the world as it is—shaped by power, insecurity, competing interests, uncertainty, and the constant need for states to protect themselves. From the ancient insights of ...

Can reading a book make you more rational? Can it help us understand why there is so much irrationality in the world? Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now (Bill Gates’s "new favorite book of all time”) answers all the questions here Today humanity is reaching new heights of scientific...

The nationally recognized, leading authority on choice exposes the surprising truths behind the decisions we make everyday. Every day we make choices. Coke or Pepsi? Save or spend? Stay or go? Whether mundane or life-altering, the choices we make define us and shape our lives. Sheena Iyengar...

A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2024 “An eye-opening analysis of why our politics have become so polarized….Keith Payne illuminates one of the biggest problems of our time and lights the way toward some promising solutions.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of...

A former public defender takes us behind the closed doors of America's criminal courts, revealing how the institutions that claim to protect us are doing the exact opposite—and offering a blueprint for finally fixing it. “A searing, compassionate, and utterly necessary book that pulls back...

What happens when Americans lose faith in their religious institutions—and politicians fill the void? From the Puritans to Donald Trump, this sweeping history will change your understanding of the forces that create leaders and hold their followers captive. “Elegant and insightful...

An invaluable guide to understanding how the internet has broken our brains—and what we can do to fix it. "Vivid and unforgettable.” ―Jonathan Haidt, New York Times bestselling author of The Righteous Mind The original internet was not designed to make us upset, distracted, confused, and...

An American Psychology-Law Society’s Lawrence S. Wrightsman Book Award Winner A 2022 PROSE Award finalist in Legal Studies and Criminology A 2022 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award Finalist A Behavioral Scientist’s Notable Book of 2021 Freakonomics for the law—how applying...

"Spiritual Economics" is a cross-disciplinary study combining psychology, economics and the spiritual science of the Vedas to explain why there is vulture capitalism, cut-throat competition, unending economic hardship, exploitation, inequity, and struggle in this world. Spiritual Economics explains why present economic methods can do nothing to solve these problems, reveals the actual source of our economic problems, and explains the only factual solution that can create an economy that serves everyone. Spiritual Economics also explains the origin and solution of our ecological ...

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Can the political be way too personal? What if most radical activists are trying to change their lives by changing the whole country? When Jesse Watters set out to interview a few dozen radical activists to find out where their wild ideas came from, he...

Two  MIT economists  show  how  game theory—the ultimate theory of rationality—explains irrational behavior   We like to think of ourselves as rational. This idea is the foundation for classical economic analysis of human behavior, including the awesome achievements of game...

If Americans want to know why their health care is so costly and getting costlier, they need only look in the mirror. Americans are notoriously unhealthy—we eat too much, drink too much, and sit too much. When roughly 80 percent of cardiovascular disease and 40 percent of all cancer cases...

You were born into a system you never designed, yet you defend it as if you built it yourself. Carl Jung argued that what we refuse to face in ourselves eventually controls us from the shadows. Nations are no different. Unexamined fear becomes a lever for those who know how to pull it; shame is weaponized into silence; and groupthink eventually replaces conscience. In this environment, populations mistake the performance of democracy for the reality of freedom. The Shadow of Democracy is not a partisan critique. It doesn't look left or right; it looks underneath. Konrad Graf exposes the ...

Fear is not just felt. It is put to work. Most people think fear lives inside individuals: a racing pulse, a sleepless night, a weakness to be conquered. They are wrong. Fear lives in systems. In Fear: How Dread Built Empires, Sold Products, and Shaped Modern Life, Joel Thomas examines fear not as a private emotion, a personal failing, or a disorder to be treated, but as a structural force that determines how societies are governed, defended, persuaded, stabilized, and controlled. Across history, populations have been ruled less by force than by anticipation, because fear organizes itself ...

The most famous and important book on politics ever written The Prince remains as lively and shocking today as when it was written almost five hundred years ago. Initially denounced as a collection of sinister maxims and a recommendation of tyranny, it has more recently been defended as the...

"Forget the lions, the modern world is ruled by the lens" This book charts the evolution of power from fist to sword, from structure to story, and finally, into perception itself. It reveals the hidden architecture behind how we are guided, how our dictionaries are rewritten, and how our choices are curated before we even make them. A fascinating, human look at the invisible forces that shape our collective psyche. Read it to understand how the room you speak in was built—and who holds the key to the door.

In White Identity Politics, Ashley Jardina offers a landmark analysis of emerging patterns of white identity and collective political behavior, drawing on sweeping data. Where past research on whites' racial attitudes emphasized out-group hostility, Jardina brings into focus the significance of in-group identity and favoritism. Jardina shows that disaffected whites are not just found among the working class; they make up a broad proportion of the American public - with profound implications for political behavior and the future of racial conflict in America.

What if the beliefs you consider your own were handed to you before you were old enough to question them? Religion. Politics. Authority. Fear. Family. Government. Tribe. Human beings inherit stories about all of them. This provocative nonfiction book examines how belief enters the human mind and what happens when belief becomes identity. It moves from religion and childhood conditioning through cult behavior, political division, government, war, fear, obedience, and the systems people defend even after they have forgotten why. But this is not a book telling you what to believe. It asks ...

When a company's workers are literally dying on the job, and its business model relies on preying on local businesses and even their own companies, and its CEO is the richest person in the world while its workers make minimum wage with impossible quotas...wouldn't you want to resist? Danny Caine, owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, compiled this zine about his commitment to fighting Amazon. Includes: the open letter he wrote to Jeff Bezos, examples of successful social media activism, links to other resources, and some sobering words about boycotting.