approaches that play down the role of rationality in favour of a political model
of human behaviour much closer to the psychologist’s stimulus response view
of man. Downs showed that much of the behaviour of voters and political
parties in Western democracies could be explained very satisfactorily by a few
simple assumptions of this rational choice sort. Subsequent work, mainly in the
USA and Britain, has considerably developed the theory, and has produced
formulations which even have a certain predictive value. There are several
reasons for this drive to make political science more like economics, not least
being the fact that economics is the most successful and highly-developed of
the social sciences, or at least was seen as such before theKeynesianmonopoly
of economic theory collapsed in the 1970s. Furthermore, many political
scientists have disliked the patronizing attitude implicit in the assumption that
mass political behaviour is a-rational, if not positively irrational. Perhaps most
important of all, the Anglo-American tradition of political theory from
Hobbestoutilitarianismand beyond has mainly been based on an assump-
tion of human rationality. Turning empirical research and empirical theory in
this direction offers the best chance of uniting the two main traditions in
political science, divided since thebehaviouralrevolution which at one time
seemed likely to lead to the demise ofpolitical theory. Unlike most political
theory, Downsian models have repeatedly been tested in research on European
and American politics with considerable success. Indeed the rational choice
analysis he pioneered has become almost totally accepted as a paradigm for
explaining much of political science.
Due Process
Due process involves a guarantee that an individual who is accused of a crime
or faced with legal action will have the opportunity to see that the charges or
claims against them are determined by proper legal procedures, without bias,
and in open court. The notion of due process may be assimilated to that of
procedural fairness, and in the United Kingdom it is implemented by the
judiciary who have, since the 1960s, done much to extend the scope of the
doctrine in administrative cases (seeadministrative courts).
In the USA due process is a constitutional right available against both the
federal and state governments, although the extent to which state governments
were subject to the doctrine was not fully settled until the 1950s. Exactly what
specific rights are entailed by due process is not necessarily clear in any
particular case. Perhaps the best summary definition was given by the US
Supreme Court judge, Benjamin Cardozo, who claimed that due process
involved whatever was necessary to ‘any concept of ordered liberty’. At a
minimum it would involve, for example, the right to legal representation, but
this right might not always extend to having a lawyer paid for by the state for
Due Process