NPR’s morning edition had a fun and interesting item on the use of game theory to analyze Congressional politics over the budget deficit:
If you’ve ever thought that most of politics is game-playing, you’re right. Political scientists often use mathematical game theory to describe how Congress works. And when they look at the current battle over how to handle the deficit, the game that comes to mind is chicken. Steven Smith is a professor of political science at Washington University, and he says yes, Republicans and Democrats sometimes remind him of two cars driving as fast as they can toward each other. “So in politics, we often times see two sides…showing the same thing, with one party trying to persuade the other party, that it is willing to walk away from the table even if that risks disaster,” says Smith.
An apt analogy, although the consequences of no agreement are not necessarily as disastrous for each party as a head-on collision. Non-participants will get hurt and the game is also about who they will blame for the collision.