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Which statement describes voting as discussed in An Economic Theory of Democracy, written by the economist Anthony Downs?

a. It seems improbable that for a great many citizens in a democracy, rational behavior would exclude any investment whatever in political information, per se.
b. If a rational citizen by his free information, becomes certain about which party to support, he still realizes that his vote has almost no chance of influencing the outcome.
c. It seems probable that for a great many citizens in a democracy, rational behavior excludes any investment whatever in political information, per se.
d. If a significant difference between parties is revealed to the rational citizen by his free information, he realizes that his vote has a chance of influencing the outcome.

User Hop Hop
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Final answer:

According to Anthony Downs in An Economic Theory of Democracy, voting for many citizens in a democracy does not seem to be a rational behavior as their vote has almost no chance of influencing the outcome. The correct answer is C.

Step-by-step explanation:

In his book An Economic Theory of Democracy, economist Anthony Downs discusses the concept of voting. He proposes that for many citizens in a democracy, rational behavior would exclude any investment in political information per se. Regardless of how significant the difference between parties may be or how uncertain a citizen is about which party to support, they realize that their vote has almost no chance of influencing the outcome.

Anthony Downs' work 'An Economic Theory of Democracy' discusses the concept of rational ignorance, where many citizens may not invest in political information, understanding that their vote is unlikely to change the outcome of an election.

Anthony Downs, in his An Economic Theory of Democracy, articulates a concept known as rational ignorance. Downs suggests that it seems probable that for many citizens in a democracy, rational behavior involves excluding any investment in political information. They realize that their individual vote is unlikely to influence the outcome of an election, and therefore, they may choose not to consume all the free political information available because the process of assimilating this information takes time and effort. This theoretical approach helps explain the phenomenon of low voter turnout as individuals calculate the cost-benefit of their engagement in the political process.

User Wueli
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