POLI 360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: No Child Left Behind Act, Peter Ordeshook, Social Choice Theory
23 Mar 2016
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Calculus of voting (riker and ordeshook, 1968) continued. If citizens behave logically (ex. engage in behavior that"s benefits outweigh its costs), then they should only vote if they have clear rewards from voting (ex. if r is positive). This analysis only examines the empirical standpoint, not the normative standpoint. R will not be positive for most citizens since pb is almost equal to 0, and c is usually bigger than d. It is, however, in the candidates" benefits to convince their followers to vote and to create positive rewards for their supporters. Parties allow candidates to do this by influencing costs and benefits of voting. Essentially, the calculus of voting leads to parties, which then influence costs and benefits to get elites elected. Parties mobilize their supporters by reducing their costs of voting (c). For example, get out the vote efforts decrease supporters" costs of transportation. Additionally, party advertising decreases supporters" costs of gathering information.
