Jonathan Haidt wrote an opinion piece on What Makes People Vote Republican, in which he posits that Republicans are neither insane nor stupid (duh) by voting for Republican politicians. I think his question would be more accurate if he tried to find out why people want to vote on anything. He asks
"Why in particular do working class and rural Americans usually vote for pro-business Republicans when their economic interests would seem better served by Democratic policies?"to which I reply
"Why in particular do working class and rural Americans want to have government solve their problems when they would seem better served by freedom?"
Or a Libertarian might ask "What makes people vote Republican or Democrat?" I think that the analysis would go pretty much along the same lines as Haidt's article: people are seeking ingroup (e.g. global warming), authority (e.g. Al Gore), and purity (of their bodily essences, free from pollution, pesticides, herbicides).
No, I think it's more likely that people don't vote for Democrats because they Don't Like Democratic Policies."
posted at: 00:52 | path: /economics | permanent link to this entry