AGAINST NEOCLASSICAL POLITICAL-ECONOMY - A POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CRITIQUE

A critique of the neoclassical economic approach to the study of politics is offered. To begin, the full theoretical apparatus orienting this approach is examined. This includes an explication of its epistemology and psychology as well as its politics. Discussion then turns to the adequacy of the political economist's understanding of the interplay between institutions and individuals as it occurs through the medium of choice, The focus here is on both the assumed effectiveness with which institutional arrangements influence individuals' choices and the assumed ease with which individuals' private wants are expressed through the choices they make. It is argued that this understanding depends on certain key psychological assumptions regarding cognition and motivation. A review of the relevant psychological research suggests that these underlying assumptions are incorrect and therefore that any analysis of politics based upon them will be inadequate, The argument concludes with a brief sketch of the kinds of concerns which should orient political analysis if it is to be consistent with the general thrust of current psychological theory and research.