Representative Democracy: Voting and Abstention
The basis of representative democracy lies in voters casting ballots in elections, but of course not all voters vote. Some voters may abstain in elections by not voting. In the first place, why do voters vote?
Voters are likely to vote if there is an expected benefit from voting. This is a rational voter hypothesis and she or he will vote if, and only if,:
pB – C + D >0
where p is the subjective probability that their vote will affect whether they get the election outcome they want, B is the benefit derived from the election outcome they want, C is the voting cost, and D shows the benefits of voting itself, regardless of the outcome.
The first term (pB) on the left-hand side of the equation is the benefit of voting as an instrument for influencing the election results, and is called the “instrumental benefit” of voting. On the other hand, the third term (D) on the left-hand side of the equation shows the subjective benefit obtained from expressing support for the preferred candidate or political party, or the subjective benefit obtained from the fulfillment of obligations as a citizen and the maintenance of the democratic system. It is the utility derived from voting regardless of the outcomes, and is said to be the “expressive benefit” of voting. Also, the voting cost (C) is the cost that must be sacrificed to carry out the voting. It consists of not only the transportation cost to go to the voting place, but also the costs of opportunity lost as a result of sacrificing possible benefits that may instead have been gained from work, listening to music, sports, etc. if they hadn’t gone to the voting station.
For the individual voter, there is almost no situation in which their vote would be decisive for determining the election outcome they want (p≈0), and there is almost no difference in any candidate or political party (B ≈ 0); therefore there is usually no “instrumental benefit ” of voting (pB ≈ 0). And then, they vote if the benefit of the act of voting itself outweighs the cost of voting (D>C), but they will abstain if it doesn’t. This is a cause of abstention. Isn’t it good to abstain? Please think about it.
If abstentions are not good, how do you think you can reduce the number of abstentions? For example, what about introducing Internet voting or penalizing those who abstain? Or what about conducting social education that emphasizes the importance of elections? Please think about that as well.
(Author: Akira Yokoyama)
This essay is the English version of No. 88, November 5, 2019 on the Japanese website.