Political Behavior and Politics

Abstract

THROUGHOUT the history of the study of politics, theories of political society have been based on theories of human nature. Thus the study of the psychology of political behavior lies firmly within the tradition of political thought. But a gap has developed between our theories of individual political behavior and our theories of how political society (or, to use the current term, the political system) operates. If we are to develop a science of politics-that is, a science that deals with the total political process on both the individual and the system level-we shall have to close this gap. Studies of the psychology of political behavior have asked a number of the right questions about the nature of Political Man: Is he rational, or does he behave the way he does because of social and psychological pressures he knows little about? Does he vote the way he does because of his social class, because his friends vote that way, or because his father voted (or didn't vote) that way? Does he know anything about the issues of politics? Does Political Man lust unceasingly after power? Or is his political lust merely the sublimation of some primitive childhood lust? These are important questions, and studies of the psychology of politics have given us important and fascinating answers to some of them. But though much is said' on the various social and psychological influences that lead to a particular voting choice, there seems to be little concern over who won the electioni.e., what the effect of all this is on the political system. Moreover, the converse question of the impact of the political system on individual political behavior has received less attention than it deserves. By sticking too close to the non-political forces that impinge on the individual and by ignoring for the most part the interrelationship between an individual's political behavior and the political system in which he lives, the study of political behavior has divorced itself somewhat from the study of politics.