This blog post was written by Rick Shenkman, the founder of George Washington University’s History News Network, and the author of Political Animals: How Our Stone-Age Brain Gets in the Way of Smart Politics (Basic Books). 

Why do voters often seem disengaged, irrational, and unsympathetic?

I was asked by Shepherd.com to compile a list of 5 books that help readers with answers.

Click here to see my reasons for selecting these five. (Of course, it's incomplete.)

Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government

By Christopher H. Achen, Larry M. Bartels

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

By Jonathan Haidt

Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious

By Timothy D. Wilson

Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes

By Franz DeWaal

Who's in Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain

By Michael S. Gazzaniga