Culture Matters

Michael Thompson is director of the Musgrave Institute in London and honourary research fellow at the Department of Geography at University College London. Richard Ellis is assistant professor of political science at Willamette University. The late Aaron Wildavsky was professor of political science and public policy and a member of the Survey Research centre at the University of California at Berkeley. Michael Thompson is director of the Musgrave Institute in London and honourary research fellow at the Department of Geography at University College London. Richard Ellis is assistant professor of political science at Willamette University. The late Aaron Wildavsky was professor of political science and public policy and a member of the Survey Research centre at the University of California at Berkeley.

• Foreword -- Preface: Remembering Aaron Wildavsky, the Cultural Theorist -- Introduction -- Rational Choice and Cultural Choice -- Social Science as Cultural Science, Rational Choice as Metaphysics -- Rational Choice and Culture: Clashing Perspectives or Complementary Modes of Analysis? -- Institutions and Culture -- A Cultural Theory of Organizations -- Cultures: Frameworks, Theories, and Models -- Cultural Theories of Change -- Political Culture and Political Change -- A Proposed Fragmentation of the Theory of Cultural Change -- Risk and Culture -- The Depoliticization of Risk -- What’s Special About Cancer? -- Culture and the Environment: Empirical Studies -- Cultural Theory, Postmaterialism, and Environmental Attitudes -- Seeing Green: Cultural Biases and Environmental Preferences -- Cultural Theory and Practical Policies -- Applying Cultural Theories to Practical Problems -- Rewriting the Precepts of Policy Analysis