In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. In this landmark book, scientist and psychologist Drew Westen shows through a whirlwind tour of American political leaders how electorates vote not with their heads but with their hearts and how the marketplace that matters most is the marketplace of emotion, filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory.

The first serious investigation into how emotions affect voter behavior, The Political Brain reveals how the political landscape would change if candidates began with a twenty-first-century understanding of how the mind and brain really work.