Emotions and the microfoundations of politics: Rethinking ends and means

Abstract

For at least 2400 years observers of the human condition have debated whether humans were rational or irrational, which itself is a variation on the question of whether we are basically good or evil. We cannot be good if we are irrational, although being rational does not guarantee that we will be good. In fact, part of the genius of modern economics is to insist that we are rational and selfish (although economists notoriously save the game by arguing that the invisible hand of the market balances selfish individuals to make for a good society). Thanks to economics, images of rational calculators have recently triumphed over images of irrational crowds in this age-old clash of political theories. Emotions have always been at the heart of these controversies.