Rational+Choice+Theory

=Title: Rational Choice Theory=

Submitted by: Jonah Libert Alternative Names: Public Choice Theory; Social Choice Theory

Rational choice theory posits that, out of a set of possible actions, a person will choose the one that benefits him or her the most. This framework is useful for understanding why policymakers pursue one policy over another; how policy proposals become laws; and how voters make choices. Applied to education issues, it can help shed light on the motives of influential federal, state and local actors and interests groups involved in making education policy. It is not a perfect explanation of reality, but it is useful to the extent that it help demystify seemingly complex policy problems. Consider an example: What is the rational choice explanation of how the No Child Left Behind act became a law? For the sake of brevity, I'll consider only the federal level. 1) Republican lawmakers supported the NCLB because it imposed the tough teeth of accountability for outcomes and offered a potential "back door" avenue to introduce school choice, found in the sanctions for failing schools; 2) Democratic lawmakers supported it because it brought in more funding for public schools and focused resources on low-achieving, largely minority, students; 3) President Bush supported it because education reform was a campaign pledge and the NCLB was largely modeled after the education reform bill he had enacted as governor in Texas; 4) in general, federal politicians supported the NCLB because they could always blame the states if it failed to deliver its unprecedented performance targets, or they could take credit for it if it actually improved school achievement. It was, in short, a win-win law because it maximized the benefits for federal policymakers and minimized the costs. Thus, the emphasis of rational choice theory on the incentives facing each actor helps to reveal how the NCLB became a law.

References:
Downs, A. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper. Morton, R. 1999. Methods & Models: a Guide to the Empirical Analysis of Formal Models in Political Science. London: Cambridge University Press. Mill, J. S. 1836. “On the Definition of Political Economy; and on the Method of Philosophical Investigation in that Science,” From Essay V in Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy, 120-64. London and Westminster Review, IV and XXVI (Oct., 1836), 1-29. Moe, T. 1984. "The New Economics of Organization." American Journal of Political Science. Vol. 28, No. 4.

References Applying Framework:
Hirschman, A O. 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Hess, F. M. Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform. Hopkins Fulfillment Services. Chubb, J. & Moe, T. 1990. Politics, Markets and America. Type in the content of your page here.