Culture might be important for the survival and establishment of democracy.
Ultimatum and Dictator Game o Ultimatum game: individuals are paired together the proposer is allotted a divisible pie, which is then offered to the responder who can accept or refuse the amount offered. If accepted both get the amount after it divided by the amount offered, however if it is denied then neither get the money and the game ends. o The Dictator Game: Similar to the ultimatum game, however the responder must accept the offer, or they are not given the opportunity to reject the offer. Why would a person make a positive offer on the ultimatum game? o Fairness: there should be a fair amount given to the responder o Fear of rejection: If the responder negates the offer neither receive any of the pie thus ensuring a positive offer, which would guarantee satisfaction for all the parties. Individuals who only care about their own share of the pie are known as Homo Economicus So the prosper would only offer an amount slightly above 0 and the responder reasoning that whatever the amount is offered is greater than zero will accept it o In the dictator game the conditions change since the prosper can keep all the pie and not offer any to the responder. The Ultimatum and Dictator games have both been played numerous industrial democracies in the world. o Experiments revolve around a group of students paired anonymously in a computer lab. o Pro-social behavior: is seen where prosper give significant amounts to the responder in both games. Experiments data might offer insight on culture and human behavior o Experiment and games offered to 15 small-scale societies on five different continents. o Societies differed in cultural and economic environments o Figure 7.4 on the ultimatum game shows results typically over 0.25% given to the responders Box 7.5: Experiments in Political Science o Experimental research: analyst deliberately introduces variation into what is called the data generating process. o Natural Experiment: is one in which nature, rather than the analyst, exogenously intervenes in the data-generating process. o Field Experiments: interactions which take place on an everyday lives. o Internet Experiments: Take place over the internet. Data and predictions o Figure 7.4 shows that no society conforms easily with the predictions of Homo Economicus. o Differences in data among the 15 societies and students in developed nations Democracy and game results
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In societies that already participate in compromise, exchange and competition
find it easier to adopt to democracy than those that dont. One should be wary of denoting certain cultural traits as incompatible with democracy.