Public Choice Theory

Summary

Elections are the primary mechanism through which governments are decided. It is indeed, also one of the oldest practices of universal consent and what might be called as ‘multiple voices, one government’. Elections decide the destiny of a country, the government that the people choose; it is in its very essence, a characteristic activity that defines an identity of a nation. That can be thought of as quite obvious since the governments that people choose portray the type of society they live in and define further their dreams and aspirations. Elections in theory, is an activity that can be thought of as whirlwind of several mathematical and theoretical concepts. Several political scientists, mathematicians and philosophers have spoken too rightly about it and some have even gone steps further to devise equations and theorems that define what elections are comprised of.

Considering that point, elections are one of the main attraction points when it comes to economic theories and what people aspire in socio-political terms. Although elections have so far been a subject of political thought, recently since the last four decades, several economists have been able to successfully combine methods of game theory, probability and predictive techniques with conceptscoming from economics and political science, to come up with what is widely known as the public choice theory, a concept that tries to delve deep into the ‘mind’ of the voter and decode what really happens during the time of elections, how opinions are formed and how these very same opinions can either become a majority or a minority among the voter population. It also tries to, and has been successful at that, in proving the notion that instead of a ‘collective’ environment, elections are governed more by individual choices and preferences, which when aggregated among the electorate, transforms into a majority or a minority, a concept different from the common understanding that political parties are won primarily by collective choices instead of them being individual. This book tries to explain the concept in detail and bridge the gap for thosewanting to understand the deep mechanics governing elections and how voters, through a continuous set of mathematical and economic concepts, decide on the suitability of the desired candidates.

This book will offer a brief understanding of the concept and try to shape the understanding about elections for most people. An introductory chapter on what is public choice is followed by the theory’s historical development starting from late 1700s till modern day, what concepts from several disciplines shape up our understanding about public choice with explanations for each of these concepts for the reader to have more clarity for public choice is a fine relationship between several seemingly unrelated matters. Finally, conclusion remarks on how the theory applies on the general electorate followed by its implications and further evolution have also ben discussed.