1. Introduction: rethinking political participation; 2. Theories of voter participation: a review and a new approach; 3. Testing the costly abstention theory of turnout; 4. Theories of protest participation: a review and a new approach; 5. Testing the costly abstention theory of protest participation; 6. The emotional origins of collective action; 7. Conclusions: criticisms, extensions, and democratic theory.
Using surveys, experiments, and fieldwork from several countries, this book tests a new theory of participation in elections and protests.
S. Erdem Aytaç is an assistant professor in the Department of International Relations at Koç University, Istanbul. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University, Connecticut in 2014. Aytaç's research interests lie in political behavior with a focus on democratic accountability and political participation. His previous work has appeared in the Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Behavior, British Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, and the Journal of Conflict Resolution, among other journals. He is the recipient of the 2016 Young Scientist Award of Science Academy (Turkey) and the 2018 Sakýp Sabancý International Research Award. Susan C. Stokes is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.
'Generations of scholars have puzzled over the reasons people vote
and join protests. This book offers a unified theory supported by
impressive evidence. Participation emerges, say S. Erdem Aytaç and
Susan C. Stokes, through an individual's balancing of the burdens
of taking part with those of staying away; and the competing
burdens involve moral tensions as well as social pressures.
Engagingly written throughout, Why Bother? is resoundingly
successful for both its multidisciplinary synthesis and its fresh
analysis.' Timur Kuran, Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies,
Duke University, North Carolina
'This beautifully written book offers a simple theory to explain
popular behavior in elections and protests. Aytaç and Stokes ask
why people are sometimes not dissuaded from participation even when
it becomes more difficult or dangerous. Why Bother? gives us hope
that there are critical brakes on democratic backsliding. It comes
at just the right moment.' Nicholas Valentino, University of
Michigan
'It would be hard to overstate the importance of understanding the
causal dynamics of political participation. And yet, despite
massive social science investment in the topic, conventional
theories in political science, sociology, and economics fail to
explain empirical variation in participation. That's what makes Why
Bother? so important. By taking seriously competing perspectives
from different disciplines and attending to a range of real world
cases, the authors have fashioned a compelling new theory of
participation that promises to revolutionize our understanding of
this most important political phenomenon.' Doug McAdam, Ray Lyman
Wilbur Professor of Sociology, Stanford University, California
'The theoretical framework developed in this book gives students of
political participation new tools to think about how these
macrolevel factors influence individual decisions to vote and join
protests … This book will undoubtedly become a classic in the
political participation literature.' Miguel Carreras, Perspectives
on Politics
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
