Document de travail

Does universalization ethics justify participation in large elections?

Konrad Dierks, Ingela Alger et Jean-François Laslier

Résumé

What drives voters’ decisions to participate in large elections under costly voting, despite the rational expectation that this has no impact on the outcome? We propose a new model of ethical voters, by positing that they have Kantian or semi-Kantian preferences. With such preferences, voters evaluate their behavior in light of what the outcome would be, should a fraction of the other voters choose the same course of action. The “other voters” can be either the entire population (“non-partisan ethics”) or the individuals with same interest (“partisan ethics”). In a model with two candi-dates and a continuum of voters, we find that turnout is strictly positive as soon as the evaluation by the voters of the political outcome is not strictly of the “winner-take-all” kind. Moreover, the equilibrium turnout rates depend on the specifics of the election at hand, such as the relative stake of the election for the two supporter groups and the presence of core constituent groups.

Mots-clés

voter turnout; voting, ethical voter; homo moralis; Kantian morality;

Référence

Konrad Dierks, Ingela Alger et Jean-François Laslier, « Does universalization ethics justify participation in large elections? », IAST Working Paper, n° 21-122, février 2021, révision avril 2024.

Voir aussi

Publié dans

IAST Working Paper, n° 21-122, février 2021, révision avril 2024