Introduction -- Winning states of mind -- Rational minds, irrational campaigns -- The evolution of the passionate brain -- How emotions work -- When knowledge isn't power -- Trickle-up politics -- Writing an emotional constitution -- Abortion and ambivalence -- Gunning for common ground -- Racial consciousness and unconsciousness -- Death and taxes -- Hope, inspiration, and political intelligence -- Positively negative -- Terror networks -- Civil and uncivil unions
Summary
"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 many cognitive psychologists, political scientists, 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."--BOOK JACKET
