Personalizing Politics and Realizing Democracy

Few people today would challenge the legitimacy of democracy as the form of government most congenial to modern-day citizenship, as it requires its members to treat each other as equals and to cooperate in the shared pursuit of conditions that maximize both the individual's potential and the achievement of a public welfare. However, a number of facts challenge these deeply-rooted ideals: declining political participation, along with skepticism anddissatisfaction with the function of democracy has spread; citizens' increasing capacity to control their own circumstances within their private, economic, and social spheres is at odds with their inability to exert control over their elected representatives; and the shift of opposing radical coalitions towards morepragmatic and ideologically elusive platforms aimed to attract a larger constituency of the electorate has greatly diluted the identity of political parties. In Personalizing Politics and Realizing Democracy, authors Gian Vittorio Caprara and Michele Vecchione present the ever-growing reciprocal relationship between personality and politics, and assert that politics are not only increasingly dependent on the likes and dislikes of its citizenship, but ultimately on the personalities of political candidates attracting these voters' preferences. In this book, Caprara and Vecchione draw from recent research in personality psychology that offera decisive role in understanding the major changes that have occurred within politics in the last several decades.

This book is a masterful exposition of the influential role of personality factors in political behavior, providing unparalleled breadth and depth of analysis of intrapersonal determinants of democratic life in society." -Albert Bandura, David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology, Stanford University, “At this precarious time throughout the world where Totalitarian regimes are once again gaining support among the masses, we all need to understand the essential human dimensions of Democracy as its vital counterpoint. Authors Caprara and Vecchione present a uniquely brilliant analysis of their decades of research on the interplay of personalities of leaders and their followers, as well as their path outlined for democracy to be realized and succeed.” -Philip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil, “This is an insightful contribution to the complex interplay between the various factors that account for how we relate to politics. Personalizing Politics and Realizing Democracy makes concepts understandable, providing sound evidence for the material presented. As people in many parts of the world express growing disenchantment with political processes, corruption and the widening gap between themselves and those who govern them, this timely volume should improve our understanding of the political choices that we make.” -Saths Cooper, President of the International Union of Psychological Science, and Professor, University of Limpopo, “An insightful examination of the moral foundations of political action! From an impressive array of perspectives from genetics through philosophy to every branch of psychology, Personalizing Politics and Realizing Democracy dissects the psychological underpinnings of democracy. It identifies the key role of personality traits and values in shaping all aspects of political behavior. Solidly grounded in research across diverse countries, this book raises many unanswered questions to inspire future research.” -Shalom H. Schwartz, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “Caprara and Vecchione's book is a magnificent contribution to political psychology. It demonstrates that ethics is a foundational part of politics and democracy. Self-reflective and morally conscious citizens play a crucial role in shaping healthy politics and well-functioning democracy. One should not underestimate the citizen's moral development and civic education in catalyzing social change.” Laszlo Zsolnai, Professor and Director, Business Ethics Center, Corvinus University of Budapest and President, European SPES Institute, Leuven

Gian Vittorio Caprara holds a Laurea degree in Political Science and a Specialization degree in Psychology, both from the Catholic University of Milan. He is full professor of Personality Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome, where he served as Chair of Department of Psychology, Dean of Faculty of Psychology and President of Federate Faculties of Arts, Law and Economics and Director of the Inter-University Center for the Research on theorigin of prosocial and antisocial motivations. He has been visiting professor at University of Michigan, UCLA, UCI, Stanford University and Santiago University. He has been President of the European Association of Personality and is member of the Academia Europaea. He was NIAS Golestan fellow in 1996-1997 and fellow at SCAS in 2000-2001 and 2013-2014.Michele Vecchione holds a Laurea degree in Psychology from Sapienza University of Rome and a PhD in Personality and Social Psychology from the University of Padua. He is associate professor of Psychometrics at the Department of Development and Social Psychology (Sapienza University of Rome) and junior research fellow at Sapienza School for Advanced Studies (SSAS). His main research interests focus on the application of multivariate statistics to diverse areas of psychology,with a special focus on personality assessment across multiple domains.