(The latest version of this page is at Pattern Descriptions. An archived copy of this page is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition02/6322.htm)
People may have different reasons for voting for representatives, or choosing not to vote:
|
Basis of vote |
Typical motivations for voting on that basis |
|
Party manifesto |
Interested in policies, perhaps as a result of being well-informed. |
|
Party ideology |
Having strong principles – a personal political philosophy – or following their parents. |
|
Tactical voting |
Choosing a candidate who is more popular than the one they really prefer, in order to prevent a third candidate from winning – because of their strong dislike of the latter. |
|
Perceived need for a change |
Discontented, not necessarily because of government performance. This feeling may or may not depend upon an analysis of the alternatives being offered. |
|
Ethnic identity |
Believing that a representative from the same ethnic group would take the sort of decisions that the voter would approve of. Fearful of losing influence to other groups. |
|
Personality |
Believing that the candidate has the right type of character to take good decisions. |
|
Loyalty / inertia |
Satisfied, apathetic or resigned – feeling that change might not be for the better. |
This rather simplified list illustrates the variety of reasons for the way that people vote. The first four in the list are based upon a wish to influence policy, but with varying degrees of interest in the detail. The last three are more to do with a wish to delegate political decisions to the ‘right sort of people’, where the judgments are based upon a perceived familiarity with the candidate or his or her ethnic group.
The list illustrates how democracy does not guarantee that people take an active interest in how they are being governed and that democratic choice has an indeterminate link to policies – the politicians have no way of knowing what people’s reasons for voting might have been. And if voters are ignorant, the election results are even harder to interpret.[1]
The interval between elections is also a problem. Typically this can be up to five years, during which time unanticipated events can blow policies off course. And, during an election campaign, people might well have forgotten what promises had been made in the previous campaign – so they might not hold politicians adequately to account.
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014
[1] Ronald Dworkin, in Is Democracy Possible Here?, pointed out (on p.128) the extent of elector ignorance in America:
“At the height of the cold war, a majority of Americans did not know whether Russia was a member of NATO.”
In this he was quoting Bruce Ackerman and James Fishkin in their book Deliberation Day. He went on to say:
“If the political consultants tell the politicians to treat us as ignorant, we will remain ignorant, and so long as we are ignorant, the consultants will tell the politicians to treat us that way."
Later on (pp.148-150) he made several specific recommendations for additional education, to improve people’s ability to make meaningful choices when they vote.