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Anthony Downs (November 21, 1930 – October 2, 2021) was an American economist specializing in public policy and public administration. His research focuses included political choice theory , rent control , affordable housing , and transportation economics .
An Economic Theory of Democracy is a treatise of economics written by Anthony Downs, published in 1957. [1] The book set forth a model with precise conditions under which economic theory could be applied to non-market political decision-making.
The paradox of voting, also called Downs' paradox, is that for a rational and egoistic voter (Homo economicus), the costs of voting will normally exceed the expected benefits. Because the chance of exercising the pivotal vote is minuscule compared to any realistic estimate of the private individual benefits of the different possible outcomes ...
This is a clear dichotomy, as one can be self-interested in one area but altruistic in another. By contrast, public choice theory models government as made up of officials who, besides pursuing the public interest, may act to benefit themselves, for example in the budget-maximizing model of bureaucracy, possibly at the cost of efficiency. [1] [13]
This is known as the problem of rational ignorance most associated with Anthony Downs. [44] Somin therefore advocates for systems of political decentralisation, such as federalism, which would allow greater opportunities for exit.
One such model was proposed by Anthony Downs (1957) and is adapted by William H. Riker and Peter Ordeshook, in “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting” (Riker and Ordeshook 1968) V = pB − C + D. where V = the proxy for the probability that the voter will turn out p = probability of vote “mattering”
Marketers can take advantage of rational ignorance by increasing the complexity of a decision. If the difference in value between a quality product and a poor product is less than the cost to perform the research necessary to differentiate between them, then it is more rational for a consumer to just take his chances on whichever of the two is more convenient and available.
The earliest roots of the model are the one-dimensional Hotelling's law of 1929 and Black's median voter theorem of 1948. [10] Anthony Downs, in his 1957 book An Economic Theory of Democracy, further developed the model to explain the dynamics of party competition, which became the foundation for much follow-on research.