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Hardcover
Publisher: PublicAffairs
This groundbreaking investigation by a renowned psychologist and neuroscientist proves it: We vote with our hearts, not our minds. Drew Westen, a Professor of Psychology at Emory University, is the lead investigator on a team of neuroscientists who have been studying how the brain processes political information. For two decades he has been advancing a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" visions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists. In this book he shows, through a bravura tour of American political leaders and how they have appealed to the electorate, that Americans don't vote with their heads but with their hearts, or guts, or neuroses. The Political Brain is a serious and groundbreaking investigation into the role of emotion in deciding the life of the nation. It looks at data across several Presidential elections from the 1950s through 2000, examines the evidence for the role of emotion in driving voting behavior, and provides a "clinical" view of a number of campaign ads, debate lines and personal profiles of the candidates who have sought to win our hearts. What's the matter with Kansas? Kansans are overemotional. And here's why...
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| How do people decide - in polititcs and elsewhere |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This book does a very good job of exposing the decision making process in general. The the writer explores the subject of how people respond to the messages of politicians and describes numerous studies on the effectiveness of political campaigns. However, the insights that one can gain from these observations go much beyond the political sphere. The insights reveal the very nature of how people respond to external messages.
As the writer mentions, it is not just democrats who overrate the rational aspects of decision making process. The flawed thinking is shared by many others in the field of marketing, sales, general management and simply put - in every day life. The book shows how people are inherently wired to make decisions based on the emotional impact of the message to one's "value system". Once the decision is made, people tend to rationalize it by giving "rational reasons" for the decision. The writer does a brilliant job of showing how to structure the messages to make them effective.
This is a very valuable book for any one interested in honing one's communication skills in general. Especially useful for people in the field of sales and marketing.
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| The Political Brain is a good read during this election season |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This book is an excellent read for those political junkies who are following this election day by day.
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| Fascinating and compelling |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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As a psychotherapist and author, I'm amazed at how Westen makes such a complex, well researched subject so compelling and fascinating. I am rarely a nonfiction reader out of my genre of psychology, but this book is a pleasure to read. Westen explains how the parts of the brain work together and helps us easily understand the role of emotion in deciding not just the fate of the nation but everything political. I have recommended this book to all my friends.
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| a must read |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Drew Westen draws on both basic neuropsych research and political research. He is not always clear which of the two he is using in his conclusions. This is a well written book by a committed Democrat. His analysis of why people vote for particular candidates is interesting and believable. Yep, this is why they made Socrates drink the hemlock. A must read for all who hope to vote in an informed way or who intend to run for office.
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| People vote their passions! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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The Republican Party, to its credit, has exploited this fundamental principle of politics for decades, while many Democratic candidates have retreated into a "safe" strategy of not offending the electorate.
This has lead to an extremely unhealthy state of one-party dominance at many levels of government.
Westen utilizes brain science and research to prove that taking a clear stance on a controversial issue, even if it is the "wrong" stance in the view of the pollsters, will garner more votes that hiding behind a staid shield of non-offensive double-talk.
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