On the Dilbert Blog today, Scott Adams mentioned a fascinating New York Times article about why people vote. It’s worth reading in it’s entirety, but the executive summary is that many people seem to vote in order to be seen voting, not because they think their vote will make any difference whatsoever.
The more observant among you will notice that I’ve filed this entry under “Religions” as well as “Amusing, Interesting, or Appalling.” That was deliberate, because I’ve noticed the exact same behavior from some of the people that I know who regularly attend churches. They do it to be seen there by their children and the people in their community, not because (as I originally thought) they think that it helps them be better people, or because they believe that their Deity is keeping track of it. These are also people who spend a lot of time and money in “keeping up with the Joneses.”
I knew that this kind of thing went on in the past. In the intolerant groups that came to the New World in search of the freedom to practice their particular brands of religion, it was often the only way to protect yourselves from accusations of heresy or immorality by your neighbors, which could result in being executed, or at least thrown out of the colony to starve in the wilderness. But until I met these people, I didn’t realize that anyone still indulged in this sort of behavior.
It might explain a lot about humanity.
That’s not why I vote, or go to shul. As you know, even from the days when I was an unabashed liberal, I was interested in the process – still am though my views are more towards the center now. Of course, I missed the last election… (It was, in my defense, local candidates only and I don’t know anything about most of them.)
I wasn’t claiming that everyone who regularly votes or attends a religious service does so only to be seen, just that the people I was talking about do. I know at least one person who goes to church because she thinks it helps her to be a better person (which is a viable reason), and several who vote because they consider it the civic duty of all citizens (also viable).
I vote because if nobody voted nobody would get elected… Hmm, maybe it’s not such a good idea to vote after all. 😉 Seriously though, if nobody votes then the politicians really have no influence other than special interests.
That’s the basic idea: voting works very well for small groups, but the larger the group gets, the less sense it makes for individuals to vote.
Politicians watch the turnout numbers, if they are low, they act accordingly.
During my time running a FidoNet node, the local ‘net had an election for treasurer. There were two candidates, both very well-known. One was moderately well-respected, the other was a complete f*ckup.
To make a short story even shorter: the ‘net had the largest voting turnout in it’s entire history. And every voter was motivated by one thing: to ensure that the fckup did not* get elected and get control of the ‘net’s money.
When voter turnout is low, it’s business as usual for the politicos. When it jumps sharply upward, it’s time for them to worry.
It’s good for them to worry. That’s why I vote. 🙂