November 06, 2005
Why Vote?
As Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, the authors of Freakonomics, note in an column today, it is sometimes hard for economists to understand why rational people vote. The classic joke:
Two world-class economists run into each other at the voting booth."What are you doing here?" one asks.
"My wife made me come," the other says.
The first economist gives a confirming nod. "The same."
After a mutually sheepish moment, one of them hatches a plan: "If you promise never to tell anyone you saw me here, I'll never tell anyone I saw you." They shake hands, finish their polling business and scurry off.
The article then proceeds to do a fairly comprehensive summary of some of the possible reasons that have been posited for why people vote and an analysis of some of the empirical studies that have been done on the subject, including one that indicates that people are more likely to vote if they actually have to go to a voting booth than if they have a vote-at-home option.
Posted by Lonne at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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