Is Rational Choice Theory All of Social Science?Advocates of rational choice theory in political science have been perceived by their critics as attempting to establish an intellectual hegemony in contemporary social science, to the detriment of alternative methods of research. The debate has gained a nonacademic audience, hitting the pages of the New York Times and the New Republic. In the academy, the antagonists have expressed their views in books, journal articles, and at professional conferences. Mark I. Lichbach addresses the question of the place of rational choice theory in the social sciences in general and in political science in particular. He presents a typology of the antagonists as either rationalist, culturalist, or structuralist and offers an insightful examination of the debate. He reveals that the rationalist bid for hegemony and synthesis is rooted in the weaknesses, not the strengths, of rationalist thought. He concludes that the various theoretical camps are unlikely to accept the claimed superiority of the rationalist approach but that this opposition is of value in itself to the social sciences, which requires multiple perspectives to remain healthy. With its penetrating examination of the assumptions and basic arguments of each of the sides to this debate, this book cuts through the partisan rhetoric and provides an essential roadmap for the future of the discipline. Mark I. Lichbach is Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland. |
Contents
Three Types of Stories | 11 |
RationalSocial Choice Theory | 29 |
Rationalism and Hegemony | 41 |
14 | 60 |
CulturalInterpretive Theory | 73 |
16 | 89 |
StructuralInstitutional Theory | 99 |
23 | 111 |
Models and Foils | 133 |
2233 | 151 |
The General and the Particular | 153 |
A Modest Philosophy of Science | 168 |
41 | 211 |
Notes | 215 |
References | 281 |
| 313 | |
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actors analysis approach argues assumptions Bates behavior beliefs Cambridge University Press causal causal mechanisms ceteris paribus collective action Comparative Politics comparative statics concepts concrete conflict constitute constructed context culturalists culture deductive-nomological defined economic emphasis in original empirical evaluate example explain explore facts falsifiable game theory hegemons hence historical human hypotheses ical ideal types ideas identities individual institutions interactions interests internal interpretation intersubjective laws Lichbach logical Max Weber meaning methodology microfoundations models and foils moral nature norms nuts and bolts observable ontology outcomes paradigm particular perspective phenomena philosophy of science Political Science positivist problem domain processes produce rational choice theory rationalists reality relations research program research traditions revolution rules scientific sect situations Skocpol social order social science social scientists social theory socially embedded unit society specific struc structuralists structure subjective synthesis theoretical theorists tions turalists tures understand values variables Weber