The methodology of public choice analysis develops a logically consistent theory based on how individual actors (such as voters, politicians, and bureaucrats) respond to incentives. assumes that all decisions made by individual actors in the public sector are done with the public interest in mind, rather than their private interests. assumes that individuals generally react to the incentives they face when making choices in the private sector but not in the public sector. focuses on the development of a single theory of government as a whole rather than on analyzing the choices made by individual agents in the public sector.