Rational Choice Theory

Though rational-choice theory is well-established in sociology & economics, its influence on quantitative empirical sociology is limited. This book examines why there is hardly a link between the two & how they could be more integrated in the future.

Rational choice theory has gained considerable influence in politics and sociology over the past thirty years; the use of rational choice methods has proliferated in all areas of social inquiry. From the early days of formal proofs and unrealistic assumptions, rational choice is increasingly being used to model authentic situations and institutions. The collection of essays from leading British writers in the rational choice paradigm concentrates upon the two key aspects of rational choice: the role of preferences and institutions.

The orthodox view is that the democracies of the western world have become increasingly secular over the twentieth century. Fewer and fewer people have chosen to believe, and the church has declined markedly as religion has changed from being part of an identity ascribed at birth to being a matter of personal choice. Choice and Religion provides a detailed critique of the 'rational choice' approach to religion to demonstrate that industrialisation has secularised the western world and that diversity, far from making religion more popular by allowing individuals to maximize their returns, undermines it. The claim that diversity and competition promote religion is refuted with evidence from a wide variety of western societies. Bruce examine the Nordic countries and the ex-communist states of eastern Europe to explore the consequences of different sorts of state regulation, and to show that ethnicity is a more powerful determinate of religious change than market structures. Where religion matters, it is not because individuals are maximising their returns, it is because it defines group identity and is heavily implicated in social conflict.