Private Desires, Political Action
An Invitation to the Politics of Rational Choice
- Michael Laver - New York University, USA
The broad-ranging scope of the book introduces the theory at many levels of analysis, including: the private desires of individuals; the social context of how people fulfil their desires; and the problems of collective action. The discussion of these problems extends into the arena of politics, where the activities of `political entrepreneurs' or politicians and the formation of political parties and coalitions are addressed.
`Private Desires, Political Action should be compulsory reading for every student of politics. This book is a rarity on at least two counts. First of all, it is an effortless yet inspiring guided tour of the contribution of rational choice theory to political science... Secondly, as Laver is concerned with substance rather than technique, he has written a very accessible book unashamedly free from mathematical formulas' - Political Studies
`With wit, style, and grace, on the one hand, and an impressive economy of presentation, on the other, Professor Michael Laver manages to embrace and envelop the entire rational choice program in political science of the past half century. He takes complicated materials and makes them transparent to the reader, not by reducing them to simplistic chat, but rather by teasing out the elemental features of the arguments and stitching them back together in an altogether reader-friendly fashion. In short, Private Desires, Political Action is a smooth and intellectually satisfying experience' - Kenneth A Shepsle, Harvard University
