A Formal Theory of Culture Wars in Democratic Politics

• In Event: Formal Theories of Violence and Extremism

Abstract

We develop a formal theory of culture war behaviors in democratic politics. Our model rationalizes many bizarre behaviors seen in modern democratic politics. In our model, the policy-making process is re-purposed as a market for costly signals about a separate conflict, operating outside the scope of legislation. We show how this re-purposing arises endogenously from specific features of the environment. We characterize the space of non-legislatable conflicts that give rise to the repurposing of policy for signaling. We use our model to evaluate policy proposals to reduce culture wars in democratic politics.

Authors

• Bo Cowgill, Columbia University

• Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Columbia Business School