Human Nature and Public Policy: An Evolutionary Approach

by A. Somit, S. Peterson

Overview

The long-dominant model for the social sciences has maintained that human behavior is solely the product of culture and learning. However, arguments on behalf of a human nature that is more biologically determined than previously thought gain more ground each day. Human Evolution and Public Policy explores the impact that the growing challenge from "evolutionary" concepts of human nature has in various policy areas. As our conceptualizations of human behavior switch from one that says human behavior is a product of culture -- through learning and socialization -- to one that claims that behavior is the outcome of both culture and genetics and biology, it is necessary for public policy to change as well. The contributors in this book show what must be done to ensure that policies conform to human behavior and its limits for change. Many argue that to ignore "nature" on behalf of "nurture" will result in incomplete solutions to social, political, and economic problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349526406
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	12/09/2015
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2003
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

ALBERT SOMIT is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Southern Illinois University. He has been Executive Vice-President of the State University of New York at Buffalo and President of Southern Illinois University. One of the earliest pioneers in the field of biology and politics, he is the founder of the International Political Science Association's Research Committee on Biology and Politics.

STEVEN A. PETERSON is Director of the School of Public Affairs and Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. His areas of research interest include American Politics, Public Policy, and the relationship of biology to politics. He is on the Council of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences and serves as Vice-President and Secretary of the International Political Science Association Research Committee on Biology and Politics.

DRS. SOMIT and PETERSON have co-authored or co-edited such volumes as Evolutionary Theory and the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2001), Research in Biopolitics (1996), The Dynamics of Evolution: The Punctuated Equilibrium Debate in the Natural and Social Sciences (1992), and, of course, their highly controversial Darwinism, Dominance, and Democracy (1997).

Table of Contents

PART I: INTRODUCTION The Standard Social Science Model versus the Evolutionary Model: Implications for Public Policy; A.Somit & S.A.Peterson Reflections on Human Nature and Policy; L.Tiger The Missing Dimension in Public Policy: Knowledge from the Life Sciences; L.K.Caldwell PART II: INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS Human Propensities, War, and Self-Correcting Mechanisms; J.D.Singer Evolutionary Theory, the Origins of Ethnic Conflict, and State Building; B.Thayer Implications of Legalized Euthanasia in Democracy: The Case of the Netherlands; E.L.F.Falger, M.R.Quirine & V.S.E.Falger PART III: DOMESTIC POLICY Evolutionary Theory and Prostitution Laws; M.McGuire & M.Gruter Neuroscience, Free Will, and Individual Responsibility: Policy Implications; R.Blank Biotechnology Is Very Rapid Evolutionary Progress; H.Caton Explore and Exploit: An Evolutionary Analysis of Institutional Dynamics; P.Zak & A.Denzau Evolutionary Theory and Criminal Justice; L.Ellis Evolution and Political Marketing; G.Saad MacLean's Evolutionary Neuroscience: Some Clinical and Policy Implications; G.A.Cory The Genetics of Altruism and Good Samaritan Laws; J.Strate

Editorial Reviews

'This book proposal looks good. A book that would show how evolutionary theory illuminates many areas of public policy would be a great advance in the social sciences. Such a book could become a standard textbook in public policy courses as representing a newly emerging biological stance on the social sciences'. - Larry Arnhart, Northern Illinois University

From the Publisher