Why vote? Daddy makes me?
Thursday, May 4th, 2006Some of you who take my class were no doubt appalled that I do not vote.
The reason I do not vote is that the probability of me determining the final election outcome is vanishingly small.
As most of you realize, if everyone thought like me except one person, only one person would show up and determine the outcome of the election. But if this were to happen, I (and others) would realize that we do in fact have a significant chance of determining the outcome of the election and would probably be inclined to vote. The last time I checked, there were many people who like to vote, so I am not too worried.
For the record, economists do know that voter turnout is larger when elections are expected to be close. And it certainly is the case that my vote is much more likely to determine a local election that a state or national election. Which brings me to this little gem. Read this article. If only it were my dad, you all would be so happy.
–CT
