Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Rational choice theory(RCT) as Essay

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Rational choice theory(RCT) as an analytic framework for politics and IR - Essay Example Becker was the first to develop the theory and applied rational actor models in economic widely. According to Rational action theory, when there are several course of action to carry out a task, an individual will choose the one which he thinks is most likely to be the best rewarding (Ogu, 2013). This paper will focus on application of RCT in paradigm of Politics and International Relation, with its benefits and drawbacks. In politics and economics, competition has been the main drive for greater power for scarce resources. Semblance of politics and economics and, unravelled nature of relationship between economic and political competition of goods in former case and for power and privilege in the later, has made the theorist to apply economic methods in the study of politics. Some researches show that individuals or representatives in economic and political paradigm acts in the same manner on overall value scale while taking part in market of political activity. In this way, the research shows that the voters are inherently the same as costumers because the same individual is a voter and a customer simultaneously (Tullock, 2006). Since its development by Becker, the rational choice theory came along way and stormed the field of political science. It is because of two important advantages which rational choice theory possesses over its rival theories that are; first, the theory possesses immense analytical advantage. Then, secondly, it is not a mere theory, rather a technique to develop theories. Although, it work with certain other theories, however, it explains the behaviour of political actors while making selection from a certain set of options in order to get their goal with minimal input. Briefly, it illustrates the fashions and ways in which people behave when provided with choices. Similarly, this theory entails the behaviour explicitly depicted by the