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The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation |  | Author: Drew Westen
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
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Seller: vana11
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 89262
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 480
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5
Dewey Decimal Number: 324.9730019
ASIN: B001L5T2I4
Publication Date: June 25, 2007
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Product Description
The Political Brain is a groundbreaking investigation into the role of emotion in determining the political life of the nation. For two decades Drew Westen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, has explored a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" notions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists—and Democratic campaign strategists. The idea of the mind as a cool calculator that makes decisions by weighing the evidence bears no relation to how the brain actually works. When political candidates assume voters dispassionately make decisions based on "the issues," they lose. That's why only one Democrat has been re-elected to the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt—and only one Republican has failed in that quest.
In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. Elections are decided in the marketplace of emotions, a marketplace filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory, in which logic plays only a supporting role. Westen shows, through a whistle-stop journey through the evolution of the passionate brain and a bravura tour through fifty years of American presidential and national elections, why campaigns succeed and fail. The evidence is overwhelming that three things determine how people vote, in this order: their feelings toward the parties and their principles, their feelings toward the candidates, and, if they haven't decided by then, their feelings toward the candidates' policy positions.
Westen turns conventional political analyses on their head, suggesting that the question for Democratic politics isn't so much about moving to the right or the left but about moving the electorate. He shows how it can be done through examples of what candidates have said—or could have said—in debates, speeches, and ads. Westen's discoveries could utterly transform electoral arithmetic, showing how a different view of the mind and brain leads to a different way of talking with voters about issues that have tied the tongues of Democrats for much of forty years—such as abortion, guns, taxes, and race. You can't change the structure of the brain. But you can change the way you appeal to it. And here's how…
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
 Westen gets it right July 2, 2007
William J. Robinson (Washington, DC United States)
30 out of 33 found this review helpful
Fascinating. Westen uses findings from cutting edge brain science to reinvigorate the classic arts of political persuasion and rhetoric. The Political Brain demonstrates how all of us actually process political information, and even the most educated and informed of us are not rational decision makers, calculating the cost and benefit ratios from a candidate's list of policy proposals.
But instead of lamenting some long-lost rational utopia (which never really existed), Westen explains how we all use emotions as an integral part of our decision making. The most successful political communicators have always known this: harnessing the power of emotional connections, telling stories that resonate with voters, and framing arguements in terms of values.
Westen's book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how politics and elections actually work. The Political Brain will be to the 21st Century what Tony Schwartz's Responsive Chord was to the 20th Century.
Will Robinson
Washington, DC
Valuable Advice for an Aspiring Political Candidate August 28, 2007
Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty (Port Orford, OR United States)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
Some months ago I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a book by Dr. Frank Luntz titled "Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear." I thought this to be a valuable contribution to the general field of what traditionally is called "Rhetoric," that is, the art (and arguably science) of persuasion. Words have power, some specific words more than others. Words are used to influence and motivate; they are used to make connections between ideas and emotions. Words are, therefore, extremely important regardless of the context in which they are used: interviewing for a job, defending oneself in court, lecturing to an audience and, obviously, in political campaigns. In politics, Luntz is primarily a pollster and consultant for Republican Party interests and candidates. I submit that Luntz's work should be of vital interest to every aspiring politician.
We have available now another book which I think any aspiring politician needs to read and digest. And this work complements Luntz's book very well. Dr. Drew Westen, an experienced clinical and "political" psychologist, has written "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation." For the sake of fairness and full disclosure, it should be said that Dr. Westen is a political consultant and advisor for Democratic leaders and candidates, although Westen does refer to Luntz's book on a number of occasions. Westen's book is probably the more directly partisan of the two, but that is not a major concern once one takes the party politics out of the picture and concentrates on the practical psychology that is being offered. While I think much of the advice Weston provides would enhance a political candidate's chances of being elected to office, I do have some ethical and philosophical reservations -- plus some plain old personal uneasiness -- about his recommendations.
There is little controversy regarding the reality of human emotions in political discourse, particularly when it involves important issues or candidacy for public office. An outgoing personality, the capacity to project a positive image, the ability to speak well, the flair one has for making contact on an affective level with another human being, that is, the overall "charisma" of a political candidate, has been known from antiquity to be one of the most valuable assets for anyone attempting to influence public affairs or get elected to office. The ancient Greeks and Romans knew this and it was utilized by their great orators, and even a cursory examination of American political history will elicit many examples of charismatic politicians and social leaders.
Weston, however, adds a new dimension to the subject about which the ancients and, until quite recently, the moderns were unaware: the physiological principles foundational to affective behavior based on recent scientific investigation into the operations of the human brain at an empirical level. Previously, the whole matter of the "art of persuasion" rested for the most part on "rational" understandings. Aristotle, for instance, did not consider rhetoric to be a special science, but simply an art of general scope. Rhetoric explains how some people succeed in swaying audiences, either by natural gifts or through practice and study and then provides the relevant principles involved. This was a rational approach to the subject without any underlying physiological explanation or justification. This is not to say that Aristotle was wrong about the art of persuasion; it's to say that his analysis was merely incomplete (and understandingly so).
Things have changed mightily over the past 2,400 years and new technologies and methods now permit a detailed examination of what actually goes on inside the human brain, but I might suggest that this knowledge can be used for nefarious purposes as well as for the opposite. Weston states: "The vision of mind, brain, and emotion ... is very different from the vision that has dominated much of Western thinking about judgment, decision making, and political behavior over the last three centuries. Emotions provide a compass that leads us toward and away from things, people, or actions associated with positive or negative states. Organisms survived for millions of years without consciousness and without the faculty philosophers have extolled for 2,500 years as reason." That may be the case; Yet, I would argue, it is the use of human reason, and not the application of human emotions, that has furthered the advancement of mankind and civilization.
In his counsel to Democratic candidates, Weston often appears to relegate the importance, and even the worthiness, of an issue to second place in favor of appealing to the emotions of the voting electorate rather than to their reasoning capacity. He writes: "The data from political science are crystal clear: people vote for the candidate who elicits the right feelings, not the candidate who presents the best arguments." I won't deny that is true; I have followed American politics for well over half a century. But is this the best way to conduct public affairs or promote the public good? Human emotions are a double-edged sword in politics; they can be employed, for instance, to promote and justify the annihilation of a racial or religious group as well as to support one or grant it special privileges.
There is also the matter of the "argumentum ad populum" logical fallacy which, in its narrow sense that I am using here, is the attempt to win popular assent to a conclusion (issue or candidate) by arousing the emotions and enthusiasms of the public, rather than by appeal to the relevant facts (or arguments). It seems to me that the worthiness (truth, efficacy, desirability) of an issue matters very much and that a political candidate's stand on an issue may be much more important than the "charisma" the candidate may project. Of course, Westen could argue that this is immaterial and irrelevant if the candidate can't win the election to support the issue involved. And, naturally, he is right about that.
My recommendation, therefore, is this: Any aspiring political candidate or political junkie (as I am), no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, ought to read Weston's "The Political Brain" because it's filled with solid practical, scientifically validated information about the place of emotions in the political enterprise. But also read Luntz's "Words That Work" because he covers the linguistic angle in political advocacy and discourse. Then, above all, read Aristotle's "Rhetoric" because he is concerned, not only with the mere art of persuasion, but with the truth or falsity of an issue, how to examine both sides of an issue, how to properly develop an argument regarding an issue and, most importantly, how to develop the ability to present a persuasive argument. With these three books in hand, how could anyone lose an election?
How to Rationally and Ethically Connect with Voters Through Emotion: A Democratic Campaign Critique August 14, 2007
Professor Donald Mitchell (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 100,000 Helpful Votes Globally)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Why did George Bush's message resonate better than Al Gore's and John Kerry's, even when Bush was totally wrong on the facts? The Political Brain will make that clear to you.
Professor Drew Westen is a political psychologist at Emory University and draws on psychology to explain the way voters form decisions about candidates during campaigns. For those who favor the policy wonk approach that is so appealing in debates at the Kennedy School of Government on PBS, this book will be quite an unpleasant surprise. Positions on issues sway voters about 2 percent of the time.
What does work? According to the research cited by Professor Westen, it's pretty simple:
Voters usually ask four questions to pick a candidate to back:
1. How do I feel about the candidate's party and its principles? (The Democrats are in trouble here because their positions are usually portrayed without the context of timeless principles.)
2. How does this candidate make me feel? (How did Al Gore and John Kerry make you feel? Many people would have answered, "Bored.")
3. How do I feel about this candidate's personal characteristics, particularly his or her integrity, leadership, and compassion? (John Kerry's unwillingness to defend himself against Bush's unwarranted attacks made Kerry seem like a person with something to hide who wouldn't be a good leader.)
4. How do I feel about this candidate's stands on issues that matter to me? (Common sense answers built around every day stories work well. References to House and Senate bills don't.)
If you think this point of view is oversimplified, you should read the book. The research is quite impressive in supporting these conclusions.
Will any Democrat follow this advice? Probably not. Professor Westen describes how Democrats favor the same campaign advisors who always lose, rather than ones who give effective advice. Many Democrats are also afraid that they can't compete at this game with the Republicans. Others think you have to be sleazy, like some emotional campaigns are. Professor Westen shows that if we want to have a well-run company, it's unethical not to convey important information in ways that it can be understood and appreciated.
The most interesting parts of the book come where Professor Westen takes on the leading issues of past campaigns (abortion, gun control, race, estate taxes, compassion, character assassination, Iraq war, and gay rights) to show the effective things done (usually by Republicans) and how someone opposed to those positions could have made a better impression than by doing what was done. I'm not convinced that each of his scripts would work, but they are certainly thought provoking.
If you are a Democrat, give a copy of this book to those you know who are running for office. If you are a Republican, study how President Bush has been making mistakes since 2004 and pass along the message to those who are running.
As a side note, I think Professor Westen missed several reasons why past candidates have chosen to avoid using emotional appeals. Having watched many elected officials in Washington up close, I'm struck by how they go from being people who want to overcome wrongs into people who seem to want to belong to a club of well-dressed, wealthy statesmen. It would be embarrassing for such a gentleman or lady to appeal to ordinary people using ordinary methods of communication. I suspect the bottom line of this shift is that these politicians don't really care all that much for people outside of their own family, friends, and allies.
By comparison, I remember being at an event with my over 80 year-old father while Bill Clinton was president. Dad had just recovered from heart bypass surgery, which had been paid for by Medicare. You could tell Dad was recovering from something. Clinton plowed through quite a large crowd to shake Dad's hand, ask Dad if he was feeling all right, and then conversed about his experience with Medicare. Before leaving Dad, Clinton mentioned that one of his top priorities was protecting Medicare benefits for seniors. Now, that sounds like Clinton was campaigning. But he wasn't. He was just expressing his natural feelings towards an older man.
In one small section of the book, Professor Westen talks about the importance of picking the right candidates. I suspect that if both parties picked candidates who naturally wanted to serve others and deeply cared about everyone they met we would have better government and more effective campaigns.
This is one in a series of books I've read in recent years pointing out that Democrats are years behind Republicans in various campaign techniques. I hope that those who are running for office are reading these books. Otherwise, we'll have one-party government in the future. That's not good for anyone.
If you do buy this book, let me caution you that the copy I read had the pages misbound so that the pages from 297 through 320 follow page 272. Try to get a book that is bound in the correct order.
The Political Brain; The Role of Emotion in Deciding the fate of the Nation July 25, 2007
C. Williams (CA, USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an excellent "how to book" written especially for Democratic Party candidates who seriously want to compete in closly contested races or perhaps turn a race predicted not to be close into a winning one. Drew Westen clearly lays out how Republicans have successfuly used code words since the Reagan days to emotionally move voters towards their candidates even using emotional racial segregation promotion wording to win over voters. His book shows how voters are often suckered into voting against their own interest for candidates promoting so big tax cuts and unrestricted free markets designed to line the pockets of the rich at the expense of the everyday American. Westen lays out the Republican messages often effectively used showing the parts they deliberately leave out and how Democrats can fill in the embarrasing blanks and win on those issues. If you have ever read Dr. George Lakoff's works and liked what he said, this book is a must read and goes a big step ahead in message and workable solutions. If you or someone you know is seriously considering becoming a Democratic Party candidate for public office pick up a copy of this book, read and digest it and you or the person you know may very well be a winner on election day.
Top Shelf August 26, 2007
Bokata (Navarre, FL)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The author presents an interesting psychological interpretation of contemporary politics in this well written, informative book. However, I think the Republican victory at the polls in 2000 and 2004 had as much to do with the new science of ballot engineering as it did with the effective use of emotional appeals. That said, Westen makes a solid case that logic alone is not enough to win the hearts and minds of the voters. In the past, the Democrats have run emotionally dry campaigns rich on facts, while the factually bereft Republicans have mastered value words and imagery to win voters' sentiments. For this reason, every campaign strategist should take this book very seriously in the near future.
Aside from its relevance to the upcoming elections in 2008, the book is an important contribution to Political Science in and of itself. For Westen (along with a growing number of social science researchers) the traditional model of the marketplace as an exercise of immanently rational choices no longer stands up to scrutiny, either in economics or political science. Japan produces well-made, technically sophisticated and relatively inexpensive motorcycles that have become the choice for engineers and discerning riders on a budget. On the other hand, a reversal of this marketing logic by and large explains the success of Harley-Davidson. In a similar vein, the book describes in great detail with supporting research why people make political choices as much on the basis of a candidate's broad appeal to public emotions as his or her knowledge of the issues. For this reason, Westen will probably be mandatory reading for Political Science majors and campaign managers from both parties in the years to come.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
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