If I invest time and energy in discovering which candidate will make the best President, the benefit of that investment, if any, is spread evenly among 200 million people. That is an externality of 99.9999995 percent. Unless it is obvious how I should vote, it is not worth the time and trouble to vote 'intelligently', except on issues where I get a disproportionately large fraction of the benefit. Situations, in other words, where I am part of a special interest.
Funny how the conventional wisdom on this point --that for the greater good, we all should vote for, and those who do not vote or educate themselves on public policy issues are acting irrationally--is exactly backwards
2 comments:
Can't argue with the logic. So have you changed your voting practices?
No. But I implicitly followed this practice for some time by not voting. I've only voted in two or three elections in my life.
Also, I am interested in politics and government. I get entertainment value from learning about politics that most people don't. And because I am always following politics, I don't have to do as much homework to cast and informed vote. Also, in Oregon I can vote by mail, making voting more convenient for me.
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