Books in the Studies in Rationality and Social Change series

Jon Elster delves into what binds societies together and prevents them from disintegrating into chaos and war and examines the perspective of rational-choice theory and the theory of social norms. This book will be of particular interest to political scientists, political philosophers, sociologists, and economists.

This 1987 book offers a critique of the liberal theory of the state, focussing on a detailed study of cooperation in the absence of the state and of other kinds of coercion. The discussion includes an analysis of collective action and of the Prisoners' Dilemma supergame.

Originally published in 1992, this book examines an elementary human paradox: that we are endangered by our own wishes. Dr. Ainslie examines the basic tendency for humans to form temporary preferences for the poorer but earlier of two goals, when the poorer goal is closer at hand.

Technical change, defined as the manufacture and modification of tools, is generally thought to have played an important role in the evolution of intelligent life on earth, comparable to that of language. In this volume, first published in 1983, Jon Elster approaches the study of technical change from an epistemological perspective.

This book brings together the most important theoretical work of James S. Coleman on problems of collective action. Coleman's work has formed a consistent and highly distinguished attempt to find an account of the workings of social and political processes rooted in the rationality of the individual participants.

This book explores the factors which govern the range of educational decisions confronting individuals between compulsory school education and university. The data on which it draws come from two surveys conducted in north-west Italy, one of unemployed young people and one of high-school pupils.

Resistance and Rebellion: Lessons from Eastern Europe explains how ordinary people become involved in resistance and rebellion against powerful regimes. The book shows how a sequence of casual forces - social norms, focal points, rational calculation - operate to drive individuals into roles of passive resistance and, at a second stage, into participation in community-based rebellion organization. By linking the operation of these mechanisms to observable social structures, the work generates predictions about which types of community and society are most likely to form and sustain resistance and rebellion. The empirical material centres around Lithuanian anti-Soviet resistance in both the 1940s and the 1987-91 period. Using the Lithuanian experience as a baseline, comparisons with several other Eastern European countries demonstrate the breadth and depth of the theory. The book contributes to both the general literature on political violence and protest, as well as the theoretical literature on collective action.

The problem of collective action is that each group member wants other members to make necessary sacrifices while he or she 'free rides', reaping the benefits of collective action without doing the work. Therefore, no one does the work and the common interest is not realized. This book analyses the social pressure whereby groups solve the problem of collective action.

This comprehensive discussion of the problems inherent in constitutional democracy will be of interest to students in a variety of social sciences.

First published in 1986, this volume of essays offers an examination of the philosophical foundations of social choice theory, in its context as the outgrowth of welfare economics. The essays advance both criticisms and suggestions for alternative approaches.

Exchange theorists have traditionally excluded punishment and coercion from their analyses; but Molm examines whether exchange theory can be expanded to include reward and coercive power. Her theory emphasizes their interdependence and differences, not only in their effects on behavior, but also in the incentive and the risks of power use.

This major book analyzes recent events in Eastern Europe and Latin America, focusing on transitions to democracy and market-oriented economic reforms.

Through the analysis of over 350 post war governments and using the Italian and Norwegian governments as case studies, the author shows that minority governments are, contrary to conventional thinking, neither exceptional nor unstable, but in fact are a common feature of parliamentary democracies and frequently perform as well as, or better than, majority coalitions.

The essays in this volume consider the question of whether the self is a unity or whether it should be conceived without metaphor as divided - as a 'multiple self'. It bears directly on the account of rationality and the explanation of individual decision-making and behaviour. This issue, a central one for several disciplines, is addressed by leading philosophers, psychologists and economists.

The mechanism approach calls attention to an intermediary level of analysis in between pure description and story-telling, on the one hand, and grand theorizing and universal social laws, on the other. These essays, written by prominent social scientists, advance criticisms of current trends in social theory and suggest alternative approaches.

The mechanism approach calls attention to an intermediary level of analysis in between pure description and story-telling, on the one hand, and grand theorizing and universal social laws, on the other. These essays, written by prominent social scientists, advance criticisms of current trends in social theory and suggest alternative approaches.

In this volume a diverse group of economists, philosophers, political scientists, and psychologists address the problems, principles, and practices involved in comparing the well-being of different individuals.