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Editorial
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Electoral franchise and the right to emphatic political opinion expressed without the need for explanation or fear of retribution are enshrined in the democratic process enjoyed widely but by no means universally throughout the world. What constitutes the mental process that integrates the analysis of fact and rhetoric, and from which emerges the decision on how to vote, is less clear. In ‘Swaying the swingers: how neuroscience influences voting behaviour’ David Owen reviews The political brain: the role of emotion in deciding the fate of the Nation by Drew Westen, The myth of the rational voter: why democracies choose bad policies by Bryan Caplan, and Microtrends: the small forces behind today's big changes by Mark Penn (page 591). The debate is whether or not individual voting behaviour is rational, based on honest appraisal of the relevant issues, and reliable in terms of an outcome that history might judge to have
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