In the comment section at Amazon about the book, “The  Myth of the Rational Voter”

Voting is not like shopping – it is more like making use of a commons, because the costs of a “bad” vote are borne by the public at large, and the chance of an individual casting the deciding vote is tiny…by Nicole

I haven’t read the book, but that is an interesting theory.

The tragedy of the commons is a theory that was first described in 1832 by William Forster Lloyd who wondered why the cows that grazed in common areas were so “puny and stunted” and the meadows so barren (read more). The simple answer: Self-interest (a human condition). When an areas is unowned, individuals use up the resources and everyone is hurt.

Applied to voters…voters know that their contribution (their vote)  is of little consequence to the outcome of the election. They don’t “own” the results  so they vote for what makes them feel good (their self interest). There is little worry about what is good public policy. Little or no effort to make a could voting decision is made by a huge majority of the voters. They are unaware that there feel-good vote is like the cows that overgraze leaving all puny and stunted.

Sadly, “Get Out The Vote” efforts only amplify this problem.

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