The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies

A very interesting book. Bryan Caplan does a great job proving the widespread misunderstanding the average voter has on even very basic economic principles. He goes on to explain why the systematic bias exists and shows how this leads individuals to act irrationally as voters. Caplan picks apart weaker arguments for voter rationality, and he all but destroys the validity of the common comparison between the behavior of rational consumers and voters.

One beef I have with this author is his frequent reference to religion when attempting to illustrate irrational beliefs. Caplan is apparently unable to fathom the idea that faith in God can be logical and rational. If it were only mentioned once in the book, I would pass it off as Caplan�s own small misunderstanding causing him to use a bad example; however Caplan uses the example repeatedly. It�s almost like he�s on a mission to call all religious beliefs irrational. It�s quite annoying.

It�s a short read with most of the pages dedicated to proving the existence of systematic bias and detailing how these biases have caused bad policies like protectionism to survive. I wish Caplan had added another hundred pages to spend more time discussing solutions to this enormous failure of democracy. In particular, how stronger structural and constitutional limits of general government authority could benefit society. With all that said, I recommend the book, great analysis and a convincing theory.