Man Is by Nature a Political Animal

Man Is by Nature a Political Animal Evolution, Biology, and Politics

edited by Peter K. Hatemi and Rose McDermott

University of Chicago Press, 2011
Cloth: 978-0-226-31909-4 | Paper: 978-0-226-31910-0 | Electronic: 978-0-226-31911-7
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.001.0001

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ABOUT THIS BOOKAUTHOR BIOGRAPHYREVIEWSTABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

In Man Is by Nature a Political Animal, Peter K. Hatemi and Rose McDermott bring together a diverse group of contributors to examine the ways in which evolutionary theory and biological research are increasingly informing analyses of political behavior. Focusing on the theoretical, methodological, and empirical frameworks of a variety of biological approaches to political attitudes and preferences, the authors consider a wide range of topics, including the comparative basis of political behavior, the utility of formal modeling informed by evolutionary theory, the genetic bases of attitudes and behaviors, psychophysiological methods and research, and the wealth of insight generated by recent research on the human brain. Through this approach, the book reveals the biological bases of many previously unexplained variances within the extant models of political behavior.

The diversity of methods discussed and variety of issues examined here will make this book of great interest to students and scholars seeking a comprehensive overview of this emerging approach to the study of politics and behavior.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Peter K. Hatemi associate professor of political science, microbiology, and biochemistry at Pennsylvania State University and a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Rose McDermott is professor of political science at Brown University. She is the author of numerous books, including Presidential Leadership, Illness, and Decision Making.

REVIEWS

“A major paradigmatic contribution relevant well beyond political science, Man Is by Nature a Political Animal provides a primer of what has been happening at the intersection of political science, biology, and cognitive neuroscience for the past twenty years. Hatemi and McDermott have put together a formidable group of the most creative scholars in the discipline, each of whom has attempted to show how the various methodologies and theoretical frameworks operate.”

— John M. Orbell, University of Oregon

“In Man Is by Nature a Political Animal, Hatemi and McDermott present the first serious attempt to provide a systematic overview of new developments [in political psychology] in a book that may appeal to both scholars and general readers. They bring together the most up-to-date theoretical, methodological, and empirical frameworks and perspectives on political attitudes and behaviors, including evolutionary biology and psychology, genetics, physiology, and neuroscience. Their book calls for real crossdisciplinary work on political behavior that will resonate within intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary discourse. . . . Not only does this book contribute to the field in making its recent achievements and advances known to both scholars and the general public, but also, and perhaps more importantly, it goes a long way in guiding its future research.”

— Political Psychology

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction - Peter K. Hatemi, Rose McDermott
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0001
[political behavior, human behavior, biology, environment]
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, which is to present evidence from powerful new techniques with which to explore political behavior; in so doing, it shows that political behaviors are no different than other human behaviors, subject to the interaction of biology and environment. It then discusses several important themes that permeate the background of the discussion in the chapters that follow. Next, it outlines each of the chapters and describes their relationship to one another. (pages 1 - 11)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Evolution as a Theory For Political Behavior - Peter K. Hatemi, Rose McDermott
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0002
[evolutionary theory, political behavior, behavioral influences, trait universals, rational choice, behaviorism, theory of politics]
This chapter provides a brief introduction to evolutionary theory, concentrating on its relevant applications to the study of political behavior. It establishes how and why certain behavioral influences are naturally innate, and why it is that we should have evolved trait universals as well as individual differences. It also discusses why traditional rational choice and behaviorism only tell part of the story of human political behavior, and why there is a need for a more nuanced and encompassing theory of politics built on evolutionary principles. (pages 12 - 46)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Political Primates - Darby Proctor, Sarah Brosnan
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0003
[political behavior, primates, chimpanzees, politics, comparative approach, human political behavior]
This chapter examines the political behavior of primates, in particular chimpanzees, in order to understand the evolutionary bases of human political behavior. It begins with an examination of how the human ideals of politics and political behavior can be translated into useful concepts for other species, followed by a discussion of the logic of the comparative approach to behavior. It then turns to both laboratory and field results that illuminate political behavior in other primates. It concludes a discussion of what this means for human political behavior. (pages 47 - 71)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Formal Evolutionary Modeling for Political Scientists - Oleg Smirnov, Tim Johnson
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0004
[political behavior, game theoretic model, civic involvement, political corruption, political science, Congress, mass political behavior, evolutionary modeling]
This chapter presents an evolutionary game theoretic model to explore distinct arenas of human political behavior. Using civic involvement and political corruption as an example, it shows how an evolutionary approach is just a light twist on theoretical and simulation models already common in many areas of political science, including analyses of Congress or mass political behavior. (pages 72 - 100)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Modeling the Cultural and Biological Inheritance of Social and Political Behavior in Twins and Nuclear Families - Lindon J. Eaves, Peter K. Hatemi, Andrew C. Heath, Nicholas G. Martin
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0005
[biological inheritance, cultural inheritance, social behavior, political behavior, parental transmission, kinship designs, mate selection, spouse selection, inheritance]
This chapter provides a theoretical and empirical framework for evaluating the roles of biological and cultural inheritance in the transmission of human social and political behavior. It introduces the methods by which parental transmission occurs and specifically addresses kinship designs and applications that illustrate the principal patterns of inheritance for socially significant outcomes. It considers the importance of mate selection for the transmission of social and genetic information and addresses this critical aspect of nonenvironmental transmission. It also discusses the fundamental domains on which spouses choose one another. (pages 101 - 184)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Gene-Environment Interplay For The Study Of Political Behaviors - Jason D. Boardman
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0006
[gene-environment interplay, political behavior, political science, gene-environment interaction, gene-environment correlation]
The gene-environment interplay perspective is a relatively new and exciting area in the social sciences. It has garnered a great deal of attention in the study of physical and mental health and it has begun to shape the work of demographers and sociologists. This chapter describes the gene-environment interplay perspective and reviews the limited work that has been done in this area thus far. The discussions cover the gene-environment correlation; gene-environment interaction; and gene-environment interplay and political science. (pages 185 - 206)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Genes, Games, and Political Participation - James H. Fowler, Peter J. Loewen, Jaime Settle, Christopher T. Dawes
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0007
[political science, cooperation, behavioral economics, political behavior, collective labor, political participation, voting]
The two most important questions in political science are: (1) How do we organize ourselves to do more than we could on our own? (2) How do we distribute the fruits of our collective labor? This chapter argues that the answers to these questions can be better understood by considering models of early cooperation in premodern times. It shows that the emergence of cooperation relied on a population with different types of people, some of whom were inclined toward taking up costly action for the benefit of others. It also reviews the use of laboratory experiments from behavioral economics to show that differences between individuals can explain variation in large-scale cooperative acts like voting and other forms of political participation that take place in modern times. Finally, it explores the root of these different types of behavior. (pages 207 - 223)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

The Mind-Body Connection - Kevin B. Smith, John R. Hibbing
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0008
[psychophysiology, political science, physiological techniques, political attitudes, political behaviors]
This chapter discusses the conceptual and analytical frameworks of psychophysiology. It argues for a broader employment of these tools in political science. It offers a detailed primer on various physiological techniques, and an empirical example demonstrating the potential of psychophysiological approaches for political science. (pages 224 - 246)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Hormones and Politics - Rose McDermott
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0009
[human behavioral endocrinology, hormones, political relations, social behavior, political behavior]
The recent work in human behavioral endocrinology has shown that hormones play just as important a role in human social as sexual behavior, and this influence is expected to manifest in the political realm as well, since political relations remain inherently social in nature. This chapter begins with a theoretical overview of the study of human behavioral endocrinology. It then discusses some of the politically relevant findings related to specific hormones. (pages 247 - 260)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Testosterone and the Biology of Politics - Coren L. Apicella, David A. Cesarini
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0010
[testosterone, political behavior, male hormones, endocrinology, political science]
This chapter aims to provide a basic framework for understanding testosterone action and its influence on behavior in the political domain. It illustrates how the field of endocrinology can be used to inform political science by describing a study conducted during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, which examined changes in testosterone levels of male participants with varying levels of partisan identification as they watched the election unfold. (pages 261 - 272)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

From Scan to Neuropolitics - Darren Schreiber
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0011
[political behavior, genetic processes, neuroimaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, neuroanatomy, neuropolitics, SCAN]
This chapter describes some of the neurological processes that influence behavior. Genetic processes encode proteins that ultimately inspire neurochemical releases as individuals respond to the stimuli they confront. One method to capture differences in neuroanatomy comes from neuroimaging. The chapter provides an overview of how we go from genes to brains, and how this process can be investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. (pages 273 - 299)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Conclusion - Peter K. Hatemi, Rose McDermott
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226319117.003.0012
[neurobiology, political behavior, politics, biological approach]
This book seeks to provide a foundation for neurobiological approaches to political behavior. Rather than attempt to provide a comprehensive overview, it instead offers incisive exemplars of the way in which nuanced and subtle work in this emerging field might progress. This concluding chapter assesses the comparative value and added advantage offered by a biological approach to politics. (pages 300 - 304)
This chapter is available at:
https://academic.oup.com/chica...

Index