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The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies New Edition,Used
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The greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters. This is economist Bryan Caplan's sobering assessment in this provocative and eyeopening book. Caplan argues that voters continually elect politicians who either share their biases or else pretend to, resulting in bad policies winning again and again by popular demand.Boldly calling into question our most basic assumptions about American politics, Caplan contends that democracy fails precisely because it does what voters want. Through an analysis of Americans' voting behavior and opinions on a range of economic issues, he makes the convincing case that noneconomists suffer from four prevailing biases: they underestimate the wisdom of the market mechanism, distrust foreigners, undervalue the benefits of conserving labor, and pessimistically believe the economy is going from bad to worse. Caplan lays out several bold ways to make democratic government work betterfor example, urging economic educators to focus on correcting popular misconceptions and recommending that democracies do less and let markets take up the slack.The Myth of the Rational Voter takes an unflinching look at how people who vote under the influence of false beliefs ultimately end up with government that delivers lousy results. With the upcoming presidential election season drawing nearer, this thoughtprovoking book is sure to spark a longoverdue reappraisal of our elective system.
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- Q: What is the main theme of 'The Myth of the Rational Voter'? A: The main theme of the book is that popular misconceptions and biases among voters lead to poor policy choices in democracies, as argued by economist Bryan Caplan.
- Q: Who is the author of this book? A: The author of 'The Myth of the Rational Voter' is Bryan Caplan, an economist known for his insights into voting behavior and economic policy.
- Q: What are the biases discussed in the book? A: Caplan identifies four biases that affect voters: underestimating market wisdom, distrust of foreigners, undervaluing labor conservation benefits, and pessimistic views about the economy.
- Q: How does this book propose to improve democratic governance? A: The book suggests that improving democratic governance could involve focusing on correcting popular misconceptions and allowing markets to operate more freely.
- Q: What type of binding does this edition have? A: This edition of 'The Myth of the Rational Voter' is available in paperback binding.
- Q: When was this book published? A: The book was published on August 24, 2008.
- Q: How many pages does 'The Myth of the Rational Voter' have? A: The book contains a total of 296 pages.
- Q: What is the condition of the book being sold? A: This book is in new condition.
- Q: In which category is this book listed? A: The book is categorized under Economic Policy & Development.
- Q: What insights does the author provide about American voting behavior? A: Bryan Caplan provides insights that voters often elect politicians who align with their biases, leading to repeated cycles of ineffective policies.