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.

Asking how the citizens of modern democracy can reason with one another, this book carves out a controversial position between those who view religious voices as an anathema to democracy and those who believe democratic society is a moral wasteland because such voices are not heard.

"A smart, readable history of the Democrats that reminds us of the party's allegiance to capital."—Indypendent

This textbook is designed for first-time students of politics. It provides an ideal introduction and survey to the key themes and issues central to the study of democratic politics today. The text is structured around three major parts: concepts, institutions and political behaviour; and ideologies and movements. Within each section a series of short and accessible chapters serve to both introduce the key ideas, institutional forms and ideological conflicts central to the study of democratic politics and provide a platform for further, in-depth studies. Each chapter contains a 'bullet-point' summary, a guide to further reading, and a set of questions for tutorial discussion. Designed and written for an undergraduate readership, Understanding Democratic Politics: An Introduction will become an essential guide and companion to all students of politics throughout their university degree.