Positive politics

Abstract

This chapter explains the notion of positive politics, namely, the study of the impact of political policies and processes upon wellbeing. It represents a relevant development in this respect, recognising the influence that political processes have on wellbeing. The chapter draws together literature that has emerged over recent years across various disciplines – including economics, political theory, and psychology – looking at the impact of political policy and processes on wellbeing. It offers detailed analyses of the wellbeing impact of specific policies or political parties. The chapter provides a set of orienting analyses concerning the differences between left-wing (LW) and right-wing (RW) political perspectives, and explores the implications that these different perspectives have for wellbeing. These spectra can be used to situate particular political parties, with LW parties tending towards the left on the spectra, and RW parties towards the right. RW people are likely to make dispositional attributions for outcomes such as unemployment, rather than conceding situationist explanations.