Sheep and Their Herders: Testing the Myth of Rational Voters – A Latvian Case Study
| Autor: | Brou, Daniel, Collins, Kirk A., McKenzie, Brent |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
welfare spending
democracy Economics membership expected benefits stated positions predictable behaviour reductions political economy unfavourable policies accession International Economics European Union influence democratic myths evaluation Finance and Financial Management expected support alignment member states Latvia government policies rational voters voting unpredictability focus groups well-informed voters business research voter behaviour EU qualitative research voter perceptions quantitative research |
| Zdroj: | Daniel Brou |
| Popis: | Through the use of a simple behavioural political economy model, we cast doubt on the assumption that voters behave in predictable ways dependent on their expected support for government policies. We show that under certain conditions an unfavourable (i.e. welfare reducing) policy may result, even with well-informed, welfare maximising voters. While true that voter behaviour may align with government policies, this alignment has more to do with a perceived lack of influence, rather than policy support. The case of Latvia's accession to the European Union is used as a case study to evaluate the government's policy in terms of voting behaviour. Both qualitative research by way of focus group sessions and a quantitative research survey are used to develop and test a simple political economy model. Findings indicate that voters evaluate the expected benefits from a policy, and the government's stated position, as separate factors. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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