Rational ignorance is the concept that a voter may deliberately choose to remain uninformed on a political issue because the cost of acquiring the necessary information (in terms of time and effort) outweighs the marginal benefit of casting a more informed vote. This occurs because a single vote has a very low probability of changing an election's outcome.

Rational Ignorance

The paradox of voting, also known as Downs' paradox, highlights a contradiction in rational choice theory as applied to voting. It posits that for a rational, self-interested individual, the costs associated with voting (such as time spent registering, researching, and going to the polls) will almost always exceed the expected benefits. The expected benefit is calculated by multiplying the value of one's preferred candidate winning by the probability that one's single vote will be the deciding factor, a probability that is infinitesimally small in most elections.

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Public choice theory applies economic principles, particularly those of rational choice and self-interest, to analyze the behavior of voters, politicians, and government officials within the political process. It examines how these individual incentives shape collective decisions and policy outcomes, often challenging the assumption that government actions are solely aimed at maximizing public welfare.

Public Choice Theory

The Median Voter Theorem is a model of voting that posits that in a majority-rule system with single-peaked preferences, the political outcome will reflect the preferences of the median voter. This implies that candidates and parties will often converge toward the political center to capture the vote of this pivotal individual.

Median Voter Theorem

Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, also known as the General Possibility Theorem, demonstrates that no ranked-choice voting system can be designed that always satisfies a set of five reasonable fairness criteria, such as non-dictatorship and independence of irrelevant alternatives. This suggests inherent difficulties in aggregating individual preferences into a single, coherent social preference.

Arrow's Impossibility Theorem

Logrolling, or vote trading, is the practice in which politicians agree to vote for each other's unrelated legislative proposals. This allows for the passage of bills that may only benefit concentrated special interests but whose costs are dispersed among all taxpayers, potentially leading to inefficient government spending.

Logrolling (Vote Trading)

Special interest groups are organizations of individuals or businesses with common interests that seek to influence public policy and resource allocation in their favor. They often engage in lobbying and campaign contributions to gain access to policymakers, which can lead to outcomes that benefit the group's narrow interests at the expense of the broader public.

Special Interest Groups (Political Economy)

Political myopia, or short-termism, describes the tendency of policymakers to favor projects with immediate, visible benefits and deferred costs, over projects with long-term benefits but immediate costs. This bias is often driven by the electoral cycle, as politicians prioritize policies that will be popular with voters in the near future to improve their chances of re-election, even if these policies lead to inefficient or detrimental outcomes in the long run.

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