ABSTRACT
The approach to political study known as “rational choice” is perhaps the most controversial of all approaches to the discipline. Its most basic element is the use of economic concepts and assumptions to derive theories of political behavior, particularly the assumption that all persons, in both private and public settings, make choices that maximize their wealth, power, security, or “utility.” Economists have used this idea to great advantage in generating models of supply and demand behavior, and many political scientists believe that it can help to generate constructive questions about politics as well.
