1. The democratic pursuit of happiness; 2. Market democracy; 3. Citizens or market participants?; 4. The scientific study of happiness; 5. The size of the state; 6. Labor unions and economic regulation; 7. The American states; 8. Between market and morality.
Radcliff examines the question of how political outcomes in democratic societies determine the quality of life that citizens experience.
Benjamin Radcliff is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and is affiliated with the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy and the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame. He has also held academic positions at Rutgers University and Vanderbilt University. He has been a fellow at the Merriam Lab for Analytic Political Research at the University of Illinois, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Study of the Humanities, and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies. Radcliff has published extensively in the leading peer-reviewed journals in political science, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics and the British Journal of Political Science, along with a variety of other distinguished journals. His work has also appeared in prominent journals in sociology (including Social Forces), labor studies and public policy. He has co-edited two books, including the well-received Happiness, Economics, and Politics (2009).
'A growing number of social scientists and policy makers are
starting to explore the implications for public policy of the newly
emerging measures of happiness. I highly recommend for their
consideration this pathbreaking, scholarly, and judicious work.'
Richard A. Easterlin, University of Southern California
'One of the most intellectually sophisticated, empirically
convincing, and politically relevant books I have read in years.
Radcliff's central conclusion - that the principal determinant of
the quality of human life is the degree to which public policies
empower citizens against the arbitrary power of the market - could
hardly be more compelling or more persuasively argued.' Alex Pacek,
Texas A & M University
'This is a splendid and very courageous book. Based on an unusually
impressive amount of high-quality data and using sophisticated
analytical techniques, Benjamin Radcliff succeeds in answering a
question that few of his colleagues have dared to pose: What type
of public policies creates and increases human well-being? The
answer is as profound as it is radical. In a time when the
relevance of political science is under attack, this book is the
answer.' Bo Rothstein, August Röhss Chair in Political Science,
University of Gothenburg
'We will never agree on matters of ideological taste, but we can
agree on facts. This book demonstrates how facts about happiness
can be used in the ongoing debate on the welfare state. Although it
may not tell the last word, it shows the way to evidence-based
consensus building.' Ruut Veenhoven, Emeritus Professor, Erasmus
University Rotterdam
'[T]he book provides an eloquent demonstration of how a fundamental
departure in the objectives of government - aiming for meaningful
and happy lives for the greatest number of citizens - underlies the
origins of public policy in the United States and in modern social
democracies more generally. It also shows the new tools that
well-being metrics provide to assess how well different governments
are doing in meeting that objective. The book is a worthwhile read
for scholars and students of economics, political science,
philosophy, and public policy.' Carol Graham, Journal of Economic
Literature
'In The Political Economy of Human Happiness, Benjamin Radcliff
poses a fundamental question for politics and political science:
'what specific public policies contribute to better lives?'. His
immodest aspiration of providing 'an objective, empirical answer to
this question' will rightly warm the hearts of those who see
political science as a tool for social progress rather than a mere
collection of intellectual puzzles.' Larry M. Bartels, European
Political Science
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