Elections in The Books Store

The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eye-opening book. Caplan argues that voters continually elect politicians who either share their biases or else pretend to, resulting in bad policies winning again and again by popular demand.

Boldly calling into question our most basic assumptions about American politics, Caplan contends that democracy fails precisely because it does what voters want. Through an analysis of Americans' voting behavior and opinions on a range of economic issues, he makes the convincing case that noneconomists suffer from four prevailing biases: they underestimate the wisdom of the market mechanism, distrust foreigners, undervalue the benefits of conserving labor, and pessimistically believe the economy is going from bad to worse. Caplan lays out several bold ways to make democratic government work better--for example, urging economic educators to focus on correcting popular misconceptions and recommending that democracies do less and let markets take up the slack.

The Myth of the Rational Voter takes an unflinching look at how people who vote under the influence of false beliefs ultimately end up with government that delivers lousy results. With the upcoming presidential election season drawing nearer, this thought-provoking book is sure to spark a long-overdue reappraisal of our elective system.

On the night of the 2000 presidential election, Americans sat riveted in front of their televisions as polling results divided the nation's map into red and blue states. Since then the color divide has become a symbol of a culture war that thrives on stereotypes--pickup-driving red-state Republicans who vote based on God, guns, and gays; and elitist, latte-sipping blue-state Democrats who are woefully out of touch with heartland values. Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State debunks these and other political myths.

With wit and prodigious number crunching, Andrew Gelman gets to the bottom of why Democrats win elections in wealthy states while Republicans get the votes of richer voters, how the two parties have become ideologically polarized, and other issues. Gelman uses eye-opening, easy-to-read graphics to unravel the mystifying patterns of recent voting, and in doing so paints a vivid portrait of the regional differences that drive American politics. He demonstrates in the plainest possible terms how the real culture war is being waged among affluent Democrats and Republicans, not between the haves and have-nots; how religion matters for higher-income voters; how the rich-poor divide is greater in red not blue states--and much more.

Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State is a must-read for anyone seeking to make sense of today's fractured American political landscape.

Myths and facts about the red and the blue:

Myth: The rich vote based on economics, the poor vote "God, guns, and gays."
Fact: Church attendance predicts Republican voting much more among rich than poor.

Myth: A political divide exists between working-class "red America" and rich "blue America."
Fact: Within any state, more rich people vote Republican. The real divide is between higher-income voters in red and blue states.

Myth: Rich people vote for the Democrats.
Fact: George W. Bush won more than 60 percent of high-income voters.

Myth: Religion is particularly divisive in American politics.
Fact: Religious and secular voters differ no more in America than in France, Germany, Sweden, and many other European countries.

Drew Westen, a Professor of Psychology at Emory University, is the lead investigator on a team of neuroscientists who have been studying how the brain processes political information. For two decades he has been advancing a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" visions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists. In this book he shows, through a bravura tour of American political leaders and how they have appealed to the electorate, that Americans don't vote with their heads but with their hearts, or guts, or neuroses.

Politics For Dummies offers all these answers and more. And it’s not just for political novices; even those with a firm understanding of politics can use this book to fill out their knowledge of the little complexities – from how the Electoral College works to campaign contribution limits. If you have little or no knowledge of politics, don’t worry. Most people need answers just like you do, that’s why this book helps you:

• Pick the candidate who best represents your views
• Donate time or money to a campaign
• Let your representatives know how you feel
• Run for office yourself

This simple, friendly guide offers the kind of straight talk on politics you won’t get from a politician. It covers the nuts and bolts of the political process so you’ll have a working knowledge of the system. It shows you how to get involved at the grass-roots level and explains the rationale behind the two-party system. It helps you parse the propaganda to get at the truth and offers a complete explanation of presidential politics. Politics For Dummies covers these topics and many more:

• How public opinion polls work
• How money influences policy
• Why your opinion really does count
• How to donate to political campaigns and causes
• Contacting your representatives
• Politics on the Internet
• Choosing parties and candidates
• Lobbyists and special interest groups
•  How candidates sell themselves
• How negative campaigning works
• What happened in the 2000 presidential election