COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH/WORKSHOP: Behavioral Models of Politics

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

General Summary This project advances the science of behavioral models of politics through a workshop, training, and research. Theoretical models of political processes are essential tools that help structure our understanding of power, conflict, democracy, and institutions. Models challenge intuitions, clarify the logic of explanations, and guide empirical inquiry regarding diverse topics spanning the traditional subfields of political science: elections, collective action, war and conflict, trade, and identity formation, to name a few. Current approaches to theoretical modeling in political science are dominated by rational choice and game theory, having borrowed heavily from a rigorous mathematical tradition in economics. Advances in psychology and economics, however, show the limits of the standard approach's model of rational human decision-making. By incorporating behavioral insights into theoretical models, the field of behavioral models of politics broadens the theoretical methodologies available to political scientists. The workshop advances this new field by bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars with a shared interest in understanding bounded rationality and its implications for political behavior, training junior scholars, promoting vigorous scientific dialogue, identifying new research priorities, and stimulating new research collaborations and synergies. Technical Summary This project advances the science of behavioral models of politics through a workshop, training, and research. Theoretical models of political processes are essential tools that help structure the understanding of power, conflict, democracy, and institutions. The workshop advances this new field by bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars with a shared interest in understanding bounded rationality and its implications for political behavior, training junior scholars, promoting vigorous scientific dialogue, identifying new research priorities, and stimulating new research collaborations and synergies. The workshop facilitates the promotion of communication and the exchange of ideas across field and disciplinary boundaries. It will result in productive collaboration between and coordination among scientists. Workshop presentations will be structured and organized as part of a series of "modeling dialogues" that pair theoretical and experimental research that addresses the same substantive topics. Additionally, the workshop will include a training workshop and mentoring activities. Participants to the workshop are obtained through a general call. In addition, PIs use established networks to draw in members of underrepresented groups in modeling politics.