Bryan Caplan on the Myth of the Rational Voter

Democracy's Flaws

Bryan Caplan critiques the notion of democratic fundamentalism, which assumes democracy is infallible. He argues that this belief is akin to a cult-like mentality, where evidence contradicting the effectiveness of democracy is ignored. Caplan compares this to a scenario where two people on an island vote to eat the third, questioning the logic of majority rule 1.

It's a strange view, but I think it's extremely odd. Yes, it's very similar to cults that predict the end of the world. The end of the world doesn't happen and say, I'm even more convinced now.

--- Bryan Caplan

He suggests that people often hold unreasonable beliefs because they provide psychological comfort, even when faced with new facts 2.

   

Voter Incentives

Caplan explores the misalignment between individual voter incentives and the collective good, highlighting the free rider problem. He explains that irrationality in voting is akin to political pollution, where individual votes for bad policies slightly tilt the scales towards unfavorable outcomes 3.

Irrationality is political pollution. When a person has crazy views about what trade policy would be best for the country and he goes and votes for it he's probably not going to change the outcome of the election.

--- Bryan Caplan

The negligible impact of a single vote discourages individuals from making informed electoral choices, as the psychological cost of changing one's beliefs outweighs the perceived benefits 4.

   

Market vs Democracy

Caplan contrasts market and democratic systems, challenging the optimism of democratic fundamentalists who believe more democracy is always the solution. He argues that economists, often accused of market fundamentalism, are actually more open-minded and willing to question their assumptions 5.

Any problem always more markets. Come on, can that really be true? That seems like a very hard line to take. But if someone says this about democracy basically they get a pass and people say yes of course.

--- Bryan Caplan

Caplan also draws an analogy between politics and religion, suggesting that both can be dogmatic and resistant to questioning, which hinders the pursuit of truth 6.