SIR Economics Investigations Abstract
ETHICAL VOTING AND VOTER TURNOUT
Presenter:
Jenny S. Cheng, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506
Mentor:
Dr. Timothy Feddersen, Northwestern University
Abstract:
Recent political science and economic theories propose a model of turnout under costly voting that shows how in large elections, only voters with "non-selfish" preferences turn out to vote. Selfish voters properly estimate their impact on the election as negligible. Only voters who are motivated to participate for non-selfish reasons are expected to turn out. If this theory is correct then large elections feature “benevolence amplification.” That is, since the only voters who participate do so because of non-selfish motivations, it suggests that election outcomes would reflect non-selfish preferences as opposed to selfish ones. In this project, we develop an experimental treatment that allows us to test the thesis that large elections will select for ethical voters.
In our study, human subjects will be matched into groups that select one of two options that affect the money payoff for all group members. Participants must decide whether to (a) participate in the voting process, and (b) what choice they will support if they participate. By manipulating the group size and the discrepancy in payments, the theory described above can be exposed to a strong, informative test.