Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference FalsificationPreference falsification, according to the economist Timur Kuran, is the act of misrepresenting one's wants under perceived social pressures. It happens frequently in everyday life, such as when we tell the host of a dinner party that we are enjoying the food when we actually find it bland. In Private Truths, Public Lies Kuran argues convincingly that the phenomenon not only is ubiquitous but has huge social and political consequences. Drawing on diverse intellectual traditions, including those rooted in economics, psychology, sociology, and political science, Kuran provides a unified theory of how preference falsification shapes collective decisions, orients structural change, sustains social stability, distorts human knowledge, and conceals political possibilities. |
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... army to cancel , in January 1992 , the country's first democratic elections . The Islamic Salvation Front , which had promised an Islamic state within a year , was expected to win handily.36 Although part of the Front had promoted ...
... Army's ability to protect the regime . In June 1788 a riot broke out in Grenoble , and the units called to restore order were attacked by a rock - throwing mob ; some units re- frained from firing on the crowd . As the fateful month of ...
... Army to the French Revolution : The Role and Development of the Line Army , 1787–93 ( Ox- ford : Clarendon Press , 1978 ) , chap . 2 , especially pp . 46–59 . 56. Tocqueville , Old Régime , p . 175 . 57. Cobb , " Revolutionary ...
Contents
Collective Conservatism | 105 |
The Obstinacy of Communism | 118 |
The Ominous Perseverance of the Caste System | 128 |
Copyright | |
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