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{{Short description|Book by Avi Tuschman}}{{Infobox book
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| image = File:Avi_TuschmanOur Political Nature.jpg▼
{{Article for deletion/dated|page=Avi Tuschman|timestamp=20150516072929|year=2015|month=May|day=16|substed=yes|help=off}}
|birth_name author = Avi Tuschman▼
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|image_size pub_date = 230px2013▼
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| publisher = [[Prometheus Books]]
'''''Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us''''' is a 2013 book by Avi Tuschman. It proposed an evolutionary theory of human political orientation.<ref name="Fair Observer" /> The book theorizes that political leanings are evolutionary adaptations that arise primarily from three clusters of measurable personality traits: [[tribalism]], tolerance of [[inequality]], and perceptions of [[human nature]].<ref name="Fair Observer">{{cite news|last1=Tuschman|first1=Avi|title=The science of political orientation|url=http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/science-political-orientation/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Fair Observer|date=29 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="NYTcolumn">{{cite news|last1=Edsall|first1=Thomas|title=How did conservatives get this radical?|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/how-did-conservatives-get-this-radical/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=New York Times|date=24 September 2013}}</ref> As evidence, ''Our Political Nature'' synthesizes studies from the fields of political science, genetics, neuroscience, and primatology.<ref name=Muhammad/> The book also offers a psychological explanation for why economic stress tends to broaden the divide between political factions.<ref name="validates UN claim too">{{cite news|first=Matthew |last=Cook|title=Interview: Avi Tuschman on “Our Political Nature”|url=http://gppreview.com/2014/03/03/interview-avi-tuschman-on-our-political-nature/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Georgetown Public Policy Review|publisher=Georgetown University|date=3 March 2014}}</ref>▼
| language = English
}}▼
 
{{Italic title}}
▲'''''Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us''''' is a 2013 book by Avi Tuschman. It proposed an evolutionary theory of human political orientation.<ref name="Fair Observer" /> The book theorizes that political leanings are evolutionary adaptations that arise primarily from three clusters of measurable personality traits: [[tribalism]], tolerance of [[Social inequality|inequality]], and perceptions of [[human nature]].<ref name="Fair Observer">{{cite news|last1=Tuschman|first1=Avi|title=The science of political orientation|url=http://www.fairobserver.com/region/north_america/science-political-orientation/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Fair Observer|date=29 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="NYTcolumn">{{cite news|last1=Edsall|first1=Thomas|title=How did conservatives get this radical?|url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/how-did-conservatives-get-this-radical/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=New York Times|date=24 September 2013}}</ref> As evidence, ''Our Political Nature'' synthesizes studies from the fields of political science, genetics, neuroscience, and primatology.<ref name=Muhammad/> The book also offers a psychological explanation for why economic stress tends to broaden the divide between political factions.<ref name="validates UN claim too">{{cite news|first=Matthew |last=Cook|title=Interview: Avi Tuschman on “Our"Our Political Nature”Nature"|url=http://gppreview.com/2014/03/03/interview-avi-tuschman-on-our-political-nature/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Georgetown Public Policy Review|publisher=Georgetown University|date=3 March 2014}}</ref>
 
==Reception==
Chris Mooney writing in ''[[The Washington Monthly]]'' credited the book with "explaining the now well-documented psychological, biological, and genetic differences between liberals and conservatives with reference to human evolution and the differential strategies of mate choice and resource allocation that have been forced on us by the pressures of surviving and reproducing on a quite dangerous planet."<ref name="Washington Monthly">{{cite news|last1=Mooney|first1=Chris|title=The Origin of Ideology |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/on_political_books/the_origin_of_ideology049295.php?page=all|accessdate=22 April 2015 |work=Washington Monthly|date=May 2014|archive-date=9 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409194444/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/on_political_books/the_origin_of_ideology049295.php?page=all|url-status=dead}}</ref> John R. Hibbing writing in ''[[Political Science Quarterly]]'' reported that although the book was one of several published at the same time dealing with psychological, biological and evolutionary bases of political beliefs, it "makes a unique and important contribution to the field" and noted that with regard to its discussion of [[evolution]] in the context of politics, "as selection pressures are relaxed, it may be possible to push it too far."<ref name="Hibbing review">{{cite news|last1=Hibbing|first1=John|title=Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us|url=http://www.psqonline.org/article.cfm?IDArticle=19304|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Political Science Quarterly|date=Fall 2014}}</ref> An unattributed review in ''[[The Economist]]'' described Tuschman as a [[biological determinist]] and foundsaid thatthe book did not explain the unpredictability of voters in the middle ground, commenting: "the author’s efforts to use “hard science” to illuminate partisanship often run aground... The political world Mr Tuschman describes tends to be remarkably binary and easily classifiable."<ref>{{cite webnews|worknewspaper=[[The Economist]]|date= August 24, 2013|url=httphttps://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21583976-evolutionary-roots-partisanship-gut|title= From the gut: The evolutionary roots of partisanship}}</ref> Reviewing the book inIn ''Forbes'', Cedric Muhammad noted that the book was generally rejected by conservatives and embraced by liberals, criticized its discussion of [[ethnocentrism]], yet said it makes "a compelling case that we are hard-wired to be liberal or conservative by nature, environment and adaptation."<ref name=Muhammad>{{cite web|first=Cedric|last=Muhammad|work=Forbes.com|date= October 29, 2013|url=httphttps://www.forbes.com/sites/cedricmuhammad/2013/10/29/michael-smerconish-and-pete-dominick-make-me-uncomfortable-what-centrist-independents-reveal-about-liberals-and-conservatives/|title= Michael Smerconish And Pete Dominick Make Me Uncomfortable: What Centrist-Independents Reveal About Liberals And Conservatives}}</ref>
 
==Author==
Avi Tuschman is an American evolutionary anthropologist and author. Tuschman attended high school at Menlo School in California.<ref name="early life details">{{cite news|last1=Baer|first1=Sheri|title=Avi Tuschman returns home to Menlo Park to shed insight into Our Political Nature|url=http://inmenlo.com/2013/10/22/avi-tuschman-returns-home-to-menlo-park-to-shed-insight-into-our-political-nature/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=InMenlo|date=22 October 2013}}</ref> He attended [[Stanford University]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.stanford.edu/news/2002/june19/firestone-619.html | title=Fifteen students honored with Golden Medal; 27 receive Firestones | publisher=StandfordStanford University | work=Stanford Report | date=19 June 2002 | accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford20020614-01.2.53.1# | title=2002 undergraduate awards | publisher=Stanford University | work=Stanford Daily | accessdate=27 April 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He graduated in 2002 and relocated to Peru for his first job after college.<ref name="early life details"/> Tuschman later returned to Stanford for a Ph.D. in evolutionary anthropology.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://las.stanford.edu/events/author-and-stanford-alum-dr-avi-tuschman-our-political-nature-economics-and-biology-political|title=Author and Stanford Alum, Dr. Avi Tuschman: "Our Political Nature: The Economics and Biology of Political Spectrums in Latin America and Beyond."|work=stanford.edu|access-date=2015-04-24|archive-date=2015-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518072042/https://las.stanford.edu/events/author-and-stanford-alum-dr-avi-tuschman-our-political-nature-economics-and-biology-political|url-status=dead}}</ref>▼
{{Infobox scientist
▲|image = File:Avi_Tuschman.jpg
▲|image_size = 230px
|caption = Tuschman in 2013
▲|birth_name = Avi Tuschman
|birth_date =
|birth_place =
|nationality = American
|spouse=
|field = [[Evolutionary anthropology]]
|work_institution =
|alma_mater = Stanford University, B.A.<br> Stanford University, Ph.D.
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|thesis_title =
|thesis_year =
|thesis_url =
|known_for = ''Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us''
|influences =
|prizes =
|website = [http://www.OurPoliticalNature.com www.OurPoliticalNature.com]
▲}}
▲Avi Tuschman is an American evolutionary anthropologist and author. Tuschman attended high school at Menlo School in California.<ref name="early life details">{{cite news|last1=Baer|first1=Sheri|title=Avi Tuschman returns home to Menlo Park to shed insight into Our Political Nature|url=http://inmenlo.com/2013/10/22/avi-tuschman-returns-home-to-menlo-park-to-shed-insight-into-our-political-nature/|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=InMenlo|date=22 October 2013}}</ref> He attended [[Stanford University]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://news.stanford.edu/news/2002/june19/firestone-619.html | title=Fifteen students honored with Golden Medal; 27 receive Firestones | publisher=Standford University | work=Stanford Report | date=19 June 2002 | accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford20020614-01.2.53.1# | title=2002 undergraduate awards | publisher=Stanford University | work=Stanford Daily | accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref> He graduated in 2002 and relocated to Peru for his first job after college.<ref name="early life details"/> Tuschman later returned to Stanford for a Ph.D. in evolutionary anthropology.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://las.stanford.edu/events/author-and-stanford-alum-dr-avi-tuschman-our-political-nature-economics-and-biology-political|title=Author and Stanford Alum, Dr. Avi Tuschman: "Our Political Nature: The Economics and Biology of Political Spectrums in Latin America and Beyond."|work=stanford.edu}}</ref>
 
In Peru, Tuschman worked as a speech writer and political adviser to President [[Alejandro Toledo]], and served as international projects coordinator for Toledo’s Global Center for Development and Democracy.<ref name=Matanovic>{{cite news|last1=Matanovic|first1=Sonja|title=Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo joins SAIS|url=http://archive.gazette.jhu.edu/2009/09/21/former-peruvian-president-alejandro-toledo-joins-sais/|accessdate=18 May 2015|publisher=The JHU Gazette|date=21 September 2009}}</ref><ref name="early life details" /><ref name=Saiz>{{cite news|last1=Saiz|first1=Eva|title=“En"En América Latina la clase media ha hecho que se encoja el espectro político”político"|url=http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2013/10/05/actualidad/1380978589_342496.html|accessdate=18 May 2015|publisher=El Pais|date=5 October 2013}}</ref><ref name="senior writer in Peru">{{cite news|last1=Alvarez|first1=Joshua|title=Flying in the face of consensus|url=http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2014/08/22/flying-in-the-face-of-consensus|accessdate=22 April 2015|work=Palo Alto Weekly|date=22 August 2014}}</ref>
 
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
[[Category:19792013 birthsnon-fiction books]]
[[Category:LivingPolitical peoplescience books]]
[[Category:AmericanPrometheus scienceBooks writersbooks]]
[[Category:Evolutionary psychologists]]
[[Category:Stanford University alumni]]
[[Category:Evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:Human evolution theorists]]
[[Category:Psychology writers]]
[[Category:American scientists]]
[[Category:American political scientists]]
[[Category:American political writers]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Peru]]
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