The Myth of the Rational Voter

Cato adjunct scholar Bryan Caplan has a fantastic new book out from Princeton University Press called The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. In it he argues that misguided policies can't just be blamed on special interests and the "concentrated benefits/dispersed costs" dynamics explored by public choice economics. According to Caplan, voter irrationality -- systematic erroneous biases in public opinion -- is a major culprit as well.

Which is to say, Caplan confirms the wisdom of H. L. Mencken's observation: "Democracy is the theory that the people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard."

In my opinion, Caplan's book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the sausage grinder of democratic policymaking. So buy it and read it!

But if you're short on time, here are some shortcuts for getting up to speed on what Caplan has to say. First, Cato released last week a new Policy Analysis that is an excerpt from the book. In particular, I'd heartily recommend this paper to all those who fancy themselves members of the "reality-based community" yet blithely cling to social-scientific illiteracy when it comes to basic principles of economics. The "assault on reason," it turns out, is a pincer movement involving both sides of the political spectrum.

Also, you might want to check out this "diavlog" between Caplan and Cato policy analyst Will Wilkinson on bloggingheads.tv.

Ahead of the curve as always, Cato Unbound devoted its November issue last year to an in-depth discussion of Caplan's thesis.

And just to whet your appetite, take a look at this profile of Caplan from the New York Times magazine.