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Positive political theory

 

 
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Positive political theory
 
 
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Positive political theory or explanatory political theory is the study of politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 using formal methods such as set theory
Set theory

Set theory is the branch of mathematics that studies Set , which are collections of objects. Although any type of object can be collected into a set, set theory is applied most often to objects that are relevant to mathematics....
, statistical analysis, and game theory
Game theory

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that is used in the social sciences , biology, engineering, political science, international relations, computer science , and philosophy....
. In particular, the individuals/parties/nations involved in a given interaction are modeled as rational agents guided by self-interest; based on this assumption, the interactions can be then predicted using formal methods.

The founder of the field was William H. Riker
William H. Riker

William Harrison Riker was an American political scientist who applied game theory and mathematics to political science.Riker was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Ph.D at Harvard University in 1948....
.






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Positive political theory or explanatory political theory is the study of politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 using formal methods such as set theory
Set theory

Set theory is the branch of mathematics that studies Set , which are collections of objects. Although any type of object can be collected into a set, set theory is applied most often to objects that are relevant to mathematics....
, statistical analysis, and game theory
Game theory

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that is used in the social sciences , biology, engineering, political science, international relations, computer science , and philosophy....
. In particular, the individuals/parties/nations involved in a given interaction are modeled as rational agents guided by self-interest; based on this assumption, the interactions can be then predicted using formal methods.

The founder of the field was William H. Riker
William H. Riker

William Harrison Riker was an American political scientist who applied game theory and mathematics to political science.Riker was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Ph.D at Harvard University in 1948....
. In his book The Theory of Political Coalitions
The Theory of Political Coalitions

The Theory of Political Coalitions is a book on positive political theory written by William H. Riker published in 1962. It uses game theory to formalize political theory....
 (1962), he applied the principles of game theory
Game theory

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that is used in the social sciences , biology, engineering, political science, international relations, computer science , and philosophy....
 to the study of politics.

See also

  • Public choice theory
    Public choice theory

    Public choice in economic theory is the use of modern economic tools to study problems that are traditionally in the province of political science....
  • Rational choice theory
    Rational choice theory

    Rational choice theory, also known as rational action theory, is a framework for understanding and often Model social and economic behavior....
  • Social choice theory
    Social choice theory

    Social choice theory studies how measures of individual interests, values, or welfares in theory could be aggregated to reach a collective decision....
  • Iron law of oligarchy
    Iron law of oligarchy

    The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory, first developed by the German syndicalism sociology Robert Michels in his 1911 book, Political Parties ....
  • Elite theory
    Elite theory

    Elite theory is a theory of the state which seeks to describe and explain the power relationships in modern society. It argues that a small minority, consisting of members of the economic elite and policy-planning networks, hold the most power no matter what happens in elections in a country....
  • Voting system
    Voting system

    A voting system allows voters to choose between options, often in an election where candidates are selected for public administration. Voting can be also used to award prizes, to select between different plans of action, or by a computer program to find a solution to a problem....
    s
  • William H. Riker
    William H. Riker

    William Harrison Riker was an American political scientist who applied game theory and mathematics to political science.Riker was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Ph.D at Harvard University in 1948....


External links


  • with discussion of his contributions