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Science 7 November 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5903, pp. 912 - 914
DOI: 10.1126/science.1158188
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Perspective

Biology, Politics, and the Emerging Science of Human Nature

James H. Fowler* and Darren Schreiber

In the past 50 years, biologists have learned a tremendous amount about human brain function and its genetic basis. At the same time, political scientists have been intensively studying the effect of the social and institutional environment on mass political attitudes and behaviors. However, these separate fields of inquiry are subject to inherent limitations that may only be resolved through collaboration across disciplines. We describe recent advances and argue that biologists and political scientists must work together to advance a new science of human nature.

Department of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jhfowler{at}ucsd.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Heritability of Partisan Attachment.
J. E. Settle, C. T. Dawes, and J. H. Fowler (2009)
Political Research Quarterly 62, 601-613
   Abstract »    PDF »
From the Cover: Model of genetic variation in human social networks.
J. H. Fowler, C. T. Dawes, and N. A. Christakis (2009)
PNAS 106, 1720-1724
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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