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The Ethical Voter

Author

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  • Goodin, R. E.
  • Roberts, K. W. S.

Abstract

No rational egoist should bother voting because, as Skinner's Dr. Frazier notices, the probability of any one man casting the decisive ballot “is less than the chance he will be killed on the way to the polls.†No matter how deeply he cares about the electoral outcome, a man must realize that his vote is only one among very many. The larger the electorate, the smaller the probability of any one vote's changing the outcome, so in most modern polities the politically rational thing to do is to conserve on shoe leather. Real-world voters, of course, do flock to the polls, which is usually explained in terms of a feeling of “civic duty.†The fact that men get some satisfaction from discharging their civic duty by voting might answer the question of why it is rational for them to go to the polls. Unfortunately, it leaves another—how do they vote once they get there? Presumably, they go ahead and vote according to the dictates of their egoistic interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Goodin, R. E. & Roberts, K. W. S., 1975. "The Ethical Voter," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(3), pages 926-928, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:69:y:1975:i:03:p:926-928_24
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    Cited by:

    1. Gaute Torsvik, 1996. "Why should Governments Redistribute Income?," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 23, pages 105-120.
    2. Hamlin, Alan & Jennings, Colin, 2011. "Expressive Political Behaviour: Foundations, Scope and Implications," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 645-670, July.
    3. Marie-Anne Valfort, 2007. "Le vote éthique, une réponse efficace aux conflits ethniques ?," Post-Print halshs-00977028, HAL.
    4. Roland Iwan Luttens & Marie-Anne Valfort, 2012. "Voting for Redistribution under Desert-Sensitive Altruism," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(3), pages 881-907, September.
    5. Karl Widerquist, 2003. "Public Choice and Altruism," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 29(3), pages 317-337, Summer.
    6. Stefka Koeva, 2008. "Private Markets and Political Markets: A Comparative Analysis," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 30-57.
    7. William H. Kaempfer & Anton D. Lowenberg, 1993. "A Threshold Model of Electoral Policy and Voter Turnout," Rationality and Society, , vol. 5(1), pages 107-126, January.
    8. Dimi Jottier & Bruno Heyndels, 2012. "Does social capital increase political accountability? An empirical test for Flemish municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 731-744, March.
    9. Louis Kaplow & Scott Duke Kominers, 2017. "Who will vote quadratically? Voter turnout and votes cast under quadratic voting," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 125-149, July.
    10. Serguei Kaniovski & Dennis Mueller, 2006. "Community size, heterogeneity and voter turnouts," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 399-415, December.
    11. Nils Soguel & Alexandre Tangerini, 2005. "Fiscal Equlisation and Citizen's Preferences : Evidence from Swiss Municipalities," Public Economics 0507006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Stephen Drinkwater & Colin Jennings, 2007. "Who are the expressive voters?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 179-189, July.
    13. Brad Taylor, 2015. "Strategic and expressive voting," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 159-170, June.
    14. Louis Kaplow & Scott Duke Kominers, 2020. "On the Representativeness of Voter Turnout," NBER Working Papers 26913, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Richard Jankowski, 2002. "Buying a Lottery Ticket to Help the Poor," Rationality and Society, , vol. 14(1), pages 55-77, February.
    16. Steven Pressman, 2006. "Clap happy: Applause and the voting paradox," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 241-256.
    17. Hamlin, Alan & Jennings, Colin, 2007. "Leadership and conflict," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 49-68, September.
    18. Adam Pigoń, 2013. "What Affects Voter Turnout? Macro and Micro Evidence from Poland," Collegium of Economic Analysis Annals, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, issue 32, pages 77-105.

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