TY - BOOK ID - 7264991 TI - Democracy despite itself : why a system that shouldn't work at all works so well AU - Oppenheimer, Danny AU - Edwards, Mike PY - 2012 SN - 9780262017237 0262017237 0262525216 9780262525213 9786613448972 1283448971 0262301709 9780262301701 9781283448970 6613448974 0262300958 9780262300957 PB - Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, DB - UniCat KW - Democracy KW - Voting KW - Psychological aspects KW - Political Science KW - Law, Politics & Government KW - Political Theory of the State KW - #SBIB:324H42 KW - Politieke structuren: verkiezingen KW - Psychological aspects. KW - Polls KW - Self-government KW - Elections KW - Politics, Practical KW - Social choice KW - Suffrage KW - Political science KW - Equality KW - Representative government and representation KW - Republics KW - COGNITIVE SCIENCES/Psychology/Cognitive Psychology KW - SOCIAL SCIENCES/Political Science/General KW - SOCIAL SCIENCES/Political Science/Public Policy & Law KW - Balloting KW - Democracy - Psychological aspects KW - Voting - Psychological aspects UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:7264991 AB - "Voters often make irrational decisions based on inaccurate and irrelevant information. Politicians are often inept, corrupt, or out of touch with the will of the people. Elections can be determined by the design of the ballot and the gerrymandered borders of a district. And yet, despite voters who choose candidates according to the boxer--brief dichotomy and politicians who struggle to put together a coherent sentence, democracy works exceptionally well: citizens of democracies are healthier, happier, and freer than citizens of other countries. In Democracy Despite Itself, Danny Oppenheimer, a psychologist, and Mike Edwards, a political scientist, explore this paradox: How can democracy lead to such successful outcomes when the defining characteristic of democracy -- elections -- is so flawed?Oppenheimer and Edwards argue that democracy works because regular elections, no matter how flawed, produce a variety of unintuitive, positive consequences. The brilliance of democracy, write Oppenheimer and Edwards, does not lie in the people's ability to pick superior leaders. It lies in the many ways that it subtly encourages the flawed people and their flawed leaders to work toward building a better society"--Publisher's description. ER -