By exploring the consequences of imperfect information, R. Douglas Arnold and John Mark Hansen (both intellectual descendants of David Mayhew) make significant contributions to the rational-choice theory of legislator decision-making. Indeed, their books can be usefully understood as the latest stage in the evolution of that theory. Ultimately, however, their contributions to the theory are incomplete. While Arnold and Hansen both highlight an insufficiently emphasized issue, their particular arguments concerning the implications of imperfect information leave unanswered several important questions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arnold, R. Douglas.1990. The Logic of Congressional Action. New Haven: Yale University Press.
2.
Bauer, Raymond A., Ithiel de Sola Pool, and Lewis Anthony Dexter .1963. American Business and Public Policy, The Politics of Foreign Trade. New York: Atherton.
3.
Fenno, Richard F., Jr. 1978. Home Style: House Members in Their Districts . HarperCollins Publishers.
4.
Hansen, John Mark.1991. Gaining Access, Congress and the Farm Lobby, 1919-1981 . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
5.
Key, V.O., Jr. 1961. Public Opinion and American Democracy. New York; Knopf.
6.
Kingdon, John W.1989. Congressmen's Voting Decisions. Third Edition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
7.
Maass, Arthur.1983. Congress and the Common Good. New York : Basic Books.
8.
Mayhew, David R.1974. Congress, The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press.
9.
Muir, William K., Jr. 1982. Legislature, California's School for Politics . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
10.
Olson, Mancur.1965. The Logic of Collective Action, Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
Schattschneider, E.E.1935. Politics, Pressures and the Tariff. New York: Prentice-Hall.
12.
Sunstein, Cass R.1990. After the Rights Revolution, Reconceiving the Regulatory State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
13.
Truman, David B.1951. The Governmental Process. New York : Knopf.
14.
Wilson, James Q.1973. Political Organizations. New York: Basic Books.
