Game theory

It applies mathematical assumptions to analyse individual behaviour in the context of choices and options or what is called the ‘prisoners’ dilemma. The game theory has been discussed in detail in Chapter 2, relating to approaches to the study of politics. The focus of this approach is on analysis of strategic choice by decision-makers in a situation of competition or conflict in order to maximize gains and minimize losses. Primarily, it was developed as an analytical tool for accounting for the behaviour of rational actors or players. As such, it is the economic man/woman as a rational actor who always seeks maximization of his/her interest. John Neumann, a mathematician, is associated with this model though it owes its popularity to Oskar Morgenstern, an economist, who applied it to economic analysis. Subsequently, R. Duncan, Anatole Rapoport, Morton Kaplan and William Riker came to apply this in political studies.¹¹ Riker used it to explain numerical and mathematical conditions of stability and instability of coalition governments. J. Aumann and Thomas Schelling, two leading economists and exponents of game theory were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2005 for their contribution to the theory of games.¹²