Democracy for realists
by Christopher H. Achen · first published 2016
80% recommend20% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Argues from political science data that voters pick candidates through party and group identity and then adjust their policy views, not the reverse; useful for readers skeptical of idealized accounts of democracy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government. --Publisher.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2008–2026A People's History of the United States
Howard Zinn, Kathy Emery, Ellen Reeves, Matt Damon
Recommended by 53 · mentioned by 10253 recommend · 102 mention53 recommend · 10253 recommend
2013–2026The dictator's handbook
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
Recommended by 63 · mentioned by 9463 recommend · 94 mention63 recommend · 9463 recommend
2007–2026The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli
Recommended by 61 · mentioned by 19461 recommend · 194 mention61 recommend · 19461 recommend
2008–2026The power broker
Robert A. Caro
Recommended by 121 · mentioned by 180121 recommend · 180 mention121 recommend · 180121 recommend
2008–2026Manufacturing consent
Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky, John Pruden
Recommended by 179 · mentioned by 407179 recommend · 407 mention179 recommend · 407179 recommend
2007–2026Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand, Sophie Bastide-Foltz, Adrian Rand
Recommended by 207 · mentioned by 758207 recommend · 758 mention207 recommend · 758207 recommend
Term limits shift power away from the representatives that the public has democratically chosen and instead empowers those bureaucrats who serve in government for 40 or 50 years. Please see: "Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government" by Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels. https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Realists-Elections-Responsi... If you want democratically elected…
on “Pelosi defends stock trading by lawmakers. ‘We are a free-market economy’” ↗…down to 1 party loyalty 2 identity politics 3 active voter suppression in key states 4 The Electoral College, which was designed to prevent this exact thing (demagoguery) #1 & #2 are discussed in "Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (Princeton Studies in Political Behavior)" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691169446 #2 also discussed in "The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness…
on “Does prospect theory explain Trump and Brexit votes?” ↗…various elite groups were misunderstanding the mood of the public. What is somewhat more rare is to read a book about how the public misreads the elites. Into this category I would, arguably, suggest that Democracy For Realists is the best: https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Realists-Elections-Responsi... I read this at the end of last year, and posted a few excerpts here: https://demodexio.substack.com/p/democracy-for-realists-part...…
on “How elites misread public opinion” ↗The book Democracy for Realists opened my eyes. https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Realists-Elections-Responsi... TLDR: People vote based on identity (self image), then adjust their beliefs (positions) as needed.
on “The large parts of America left behind by today's economy” ↗I too grudgingly, fitfully made the worldview transition from "platforms" to "identity". Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691178240/ -- The silver lining is that issue-based efforts have risen to fill the vacuum. I'm as partisan as they come,…
on “The Decline of Historical Thinking” ↗…a little familiar with a lot of it before, but the way that Harari writes really makes you think about things differently. Here are a couple of other books that have been pretty influential for me: Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government "Main Street" by Sinclair Lewis
on “Ask HN: Which book helped you understand the world?” ↗…observed behavior and outcomes remain confusing... the science is there if anyone wants it (reading lists for relevant courses are widely available, journals are not that hard to come by, or just grab Democracy for Realists and follow up with reading criticism of it and checking its sources) and at least the basic fact that very few voters think or behave remotely like anyone hoping for a well-informed, rational, and empathetic…
on “IRS head says free Direct File tax service is 'gone'” ↗…said governments extremely limited. You can't have a referendum on every issue, so for the most part all the public gets to decide is if someone did a good job over the last X years. I recommend reading Democracy for Realists for a more in-depth look, but suffice to say that that level of interaction is far too coarse to guide public policy on immediate, subtle, and complex issues like Ukraine, COVID, or Chinese foreign policy.…
on “Negativity Drives Online News Consumption” ↗…are misled and trained against seeking alternatives. They vote for their "tribe," not out of a sense of moral duty. And your impression of democracy is extremely idealistic - you should read the book Democracy for Realists. It sheds a lot of light on the actual patterns and causes of voting behavior. In any case, votes don't matter as much as you think they do. The democratic process acts more as a relief valve for societal…
This is a depressing, liberating read: Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government http://a.co/3Z1dt6b TL;DR: People vote based on identity and morph their views to match their chosen candidate. Struggling to accept this, I've now…
on “Former Google and Facebook execs are sounding alarms about the power of tech” ↗*"...not obvious to me that higher voter turnout leads to better governance." That's the thesis of the book Democracy for Realists. http://a.co/d/hg6wfUy TL;DR: People vote based on identity. It's a painful, illuminating read. -- The only consistent way to boost turnout is competitive races. While I'm for universal, automatic…
on “Inside a Failed Silicon Valley Attempt to Reinvent Politics” ↗The books Democracy For Realists and then Why We Are Polarized cured me of remaining notions that any signicant fraction of people vote based on platforms, ideas, policy. Federal and statewide races are about activating identities and…
on “What's the most significant hack in history?” ↗Have you read Democracy for Realists? TIL Most voters don't have well defined policy preferences. Nor can they correctly associate political parties with their stated policy positions.
on “Kansas tuberculosis outbreak is America's largest recorded since the 1950s” ↗I recently started reading a great book called "Democracy for Realists". Voters may believe that they are electing someone who will represent their principles, but that is not how it works. This is a good summary of the book: https://sppe.lse.ac.uk/articles/52
on “Amazon wants a product safety regulator declared unconstitutional” ↗…experience is grounded in the reality the navigate anyhow. If they don't learn it, it's of no consequence. This is on my mind because I work in democratic reform, and I am acutely aware (from books like "Democracy for Realists", that eviscerate common assumptions about "how democracy works") that it often doesn't matter if we understand how democracy is working, so long as we feel like we do, enough to take steps forward and…
on “GPT-5 is behind schedule” ↗