Political Behavior

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...

“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...

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...

Republicans who live closer to the U.S.-Mexico border are less likely to support constructing a wall than those who live farther away. After a mass shooting, gun sales and permit applications skyrocket in nearby communities. Experiencing an extreme weather event like a hurricane or flood can...

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...

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...

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...

President Obama’s former United States chief of protocol looks at why diplomacy and etiquette matter—from the international stage to everyday life. History often appears to consist of big gestures and dramatic shifts. But for every peace treaty signed, someone set the stage, using hidden...

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...

Red teaming. It is a practice as old as the Devil's Advocate, the 11th-century Vatican official charged with discrediting candidates for sainthood. Today, red teams - comprised primarily of fearless skeptics and those assuming the role of saboteurs who seek to better understand the interests, intentions, and capabilities of institutions or potential competitors - are used widely in both the public and private sector.

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...

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...

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.

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 ...

“Refreshingly candid . . . Get off Instagram and read this book.” —Sacha Baron Cohen From the dynamic head of ADL, an impassioned argument about the terrifying path that America finds itself on today—and how we can save ourselves. It’s almost impossible to imagine that unbridled hate...

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.

A riveting behind-the-scenes account of the new stars of the far right—and how they’ve partnered with billionaire donors, idealogues, and political insiders to build the most powerful youth movement the American right has ever seen In the wake of the Obama presidency, a group of young...

Why do societies proclaim lofty values yet act in ways that betray them? Why does hypocrisy not only survive across centuries but seem to thrive as a structural feature of human history? In Collective Hypocrisy: How Societies Betray Their Own Values, Hussam Atef Elkhatib, PhD, explores the paradox of virtue and betrayal, power and self-deception, ideals and reality. This philosophical inquiry traces how nations, religions, ideologies, and institutions often wear the mask of morality while practicing its opposite. Drawing on history, politics, psychology, and moral reflection, the book ...

This book (in dialogue form) explains what is the nature of politics, and what is the anthropological evolution of the political party by defining the essence of the political left and right and their respective raisons d’etre, what motivates them, and the nature of their ethics. The explanation is contained in 7 Dictums (one set of seven principles each for the Left and the Right). Further, the book demonstrates how the Dictums are relative and explanatory to the rise and fall of empires and the causes of war.

The United States has the largest criminal justice system in the world, with approximately 7 million adults and juveniles in jail, prison, or community custody. With true crime podcasts like Serial bringing these statistics to the forefront of our minds and giving us an insight into what the...