Why Vote? The Evidence

Abstract

I argued in chapter 1 that the inclusion of altruistic benefits in the decision calculus solves the problem of voting in rational choice theory, as shown by Downs (1957). However, I did not show either that voting is an equilibrium strategy or that a high turnout results when altruism is included. In this chapter, I present an empirical test of the hypothesis that uses the 1995 NES Pilot Study, because it includes several measures of “humanitarianism.” By integrating this survey with the 1994 NES election survey, I am able to present evidence that altruism does, in fact, play a key role in the decision to vote.