AMBIGUITY, CONTRADICTIONS, AND FRUSTRATIONS AT THE BALLOT BOX: A PUBLIC CHOICE PERSPECTIVE |
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| Authors: | William C Mitchell |
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| Institution: | Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon. He specializes in public choice theory and its applications. He has published numerous articles in the leading scholarly journals and he is the author of The American Polity, Political Analysis and Public Policy (with Joyce Mitchell) and Public Choice in America. |
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| Abstract: | A theoretical analysis of citizen participation in politics from a public choice perspective indicates that widespread apathy and disinterest are not aberrations in citizen behavior due to civic irresponsibility or the personal failings of individuals. Rather such responses are highly rational adapta- tions to a political system and political decision-making process over which the individual has little control and participation in which, while demand- ing, yields few tangible returns. Elections and voting are poor mechanisms for aggregating choice, allocating resources or directing public policy. |
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