AMBIGUITY, CONTRADICTIONS, AND FRUSTRATIONS AT THE BALLOT BOX: A PUBLIC CHOICE PERSPECTIVE

William C. Mitchell

Review of Policy Research, 1990, vol. 9, issue 3, 517-525

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.

Date: 1990
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-1338.1990.tb01059.x

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:revpol:v:9:y:1990:i:3:p:517-525

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.wiley.com/bw/subs.asp?ref=1541-132x

Access Statistics for this article

Review of Policy Research is currently edited by Christopher Gore

More articles in Review of Policy Research from Policy Studies Organization Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().