Moral Psychology and Politics
We have more in common with one another than not, but the few aspects of shared society in which we clash are doozies. Morals and politics often go hand in hand as arenas in which opposing ideologies foster disagreements that are volatile and hateful. By attempting to understanding the psychology and evolutionary processes behind these ideological battles maybe we can learn to understand one another and transfer our animosity into an empathetic and productive democracy.
"The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion," by Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt reveals that the reason we find it so hard to get along with others is that our minds are designed to be moral. He examines where morality comes from and why it is the defining characteristic of humans and suggests that it is possible to cooperate with others whose views might be different from our own.
"The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Centuary Politics with an 18th-Century Brain," by George Lakoff
In What's the Matter with Kansas?, Thomas Frank pointed out that a great number of Americans actually vote against their own interests. In The Political Mind, George Lakoff explains why. As it turns out, human beings are not the rational creatures we've so long imagined ourselves to be. Ideas, morals, and values do not exist somewhere outside the body, ready to be examined and put to use.
"Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them," by Joshua D. Greene
Our brains were designed for tribal life, for getting along with a select group of others (Us) and for fighting off everyone else (Them). But modern times have forced the world’s tribes into a shared space, resulting in epic clashes of values along with unprecedented opportunities. As the world shrinks, the moral lines that divide us become more salient and more puzzling. We fight over everything from tax codes to gay marriage to global warming, and we wonder where, if at all, we can find our common ground.
"The Gardens of Democracy: A New American Story of Citizenship, the Economy, and the Role of Government," by Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer
Understand income inequality, middle-out economics and other realities of modern America as authors Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer argue that fundamental American assumptions about citizenship, society, economics, and government need updating for the 21st century.
"It's Even Worse than it Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism," by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Orenstein
Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress—and the United States—to the brink of institutional collapse. The first is the serious mismatch between our political parties, which have become as vehemently adversarial as parliamentary parties, and a governing system that, unlike a parliamentary democracy, makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act.
"Sovereignty: God, State, and Self," by Jean Bethke Elshtain
Throughout the history of human intellectual endeavor, sovereignty has cut across the diverse realms of theology, political thought, and psychology. From earliest Christian worship to the revolutionary ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Karl Marx, the debates about sovereignty—complete independence and self-government—have dominated our history.In this seminal work of political history and political theory, leading scholar and public intellectual Jean Bethke Elshtain examines the origins and meanings of “sovereignty” as it relates to all the ways we attempt to explain our world: God, state, and self.
"The Idea of Justice," by Amartya Sen
Social justice: an ideal, forever beyond our grasp; or one of many practical possibilities? More than a matter of intellectual discourse, the idea of justice plays a real role in how--and how well--people live. And in this book the distinguished scholar Amartya Sen offers a powerful critique of the theory of social justice that, in its grip on social and political thinking, has long left practical realities far behind
"Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us," by Avi Tuschman
Our Political Nature is the first book to reveal the hidden roots of our most deeply held moral values. It shows how political orientations across space and time arise from three clusters of measurable personality traits. These clusters entail opposing attitudes toward tribalism, inequality, and differing perceptions of human nature. Together, these traits are by far the most powerful cause of left-right voting, even leading people to regularly vote against their economic interests.
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