https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321716650223 Political Studies 2017, Vol. 65(2) 316–338 © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0032321716650223 journals.sagepub.com/home/psx More Choice for Better Choosers: Political Freedom, Autonomy, and Happiness Sebastiano Bavetta 1 , Dario Maimone Ansaldo Patti 2 , Peter Miller 3 and Pietro Navarra 2 Abstract A substantial literature finds that freedom in the sense of an expanded opportunity set is positively related to happiness. A contrasting literature, however, finds that an excess of choice can have socially undesirable outcomes. We test the effect of two types of freedom—autonomy and political—on happiness using five waves of World Values Survey data (1981–2008). We find evidence supporting the claim that equipping people with the tools to direct the course of their lives (i.e. increasing autonomy freedom) incentivizes the desire to investigate alternatives (e.g. political parties) before making a decision. The effect of freedoms on happiness is diminished in contexts where individuals have less experience with evaluating alternatives, such as in authoritarian or transitional countries. Keywords World Values Survey, comparative public opinion, political freedom, personal autonomy, happiness Accepted: 4 April 2016 The pursuit of happiness is a difficult exercise for which, luckily, there is no shortage of suggestions. Psychology, economics, and political science can be righteously enlisted in the thick directory of contributors to a never-ending catalog of recommendations, surely with substantial credibility and hopefully with a strong clout. This article adds to the list by suggesting that a major determinant of happiness is freedom (Haller and Hadler, 2004; Inglehart et al., 2008; Veenhoven, 2000). To offer original insights, we disentangle the 1 Department of Economic Sciences, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy 2 Department of Economics, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy 3 Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Corresponding author: Peter Miller, Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program, University of Pennsylvania, 375 Claudia Cohen Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Email: peterm@sas.upenn.edu 650223PSX 0 0 10.1177/0032321716650223Political StudiesBavetta et al. research-article 2016 Article