Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter
- ISBN-10
- 0804789312
- ISBN-13
- 9780804789318
- Category
- Law
- Pages
- 280
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2013-10-02
- Publisher
- Stanford University Press
- Author
- Ilya Somin
Description
One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Often, many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This may be rational, but it creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know. In Democracy and Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin mines the depths of ignorance in America and reveals the extent to which it is a major problem for democracy. Somin weighs various options for solving this problem, arguing that political ignorance is best mitigated and its effects lessened by decentralizing and limiting government. Somin provocatively argues that people make better decisions when they choose what to purchase in the market or which state or local government to live under, than when they vote at the ballot box, because they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information and to use it wisely.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2016-06-15
- 312 pages
- Ebook
- Stanford University Press
-
- 2013-10-02
- - pages
- Paperback
- Stanford Law Books
-
- 2013-10-02
- - pages
- Paperback
- Stanford Law Books
Similar books
-
The Tyranny of Political Ignorance: Cracks in the United States Democratic Armor
By Winston Sheekel MarshThe Tyranny of Political Ignorance highlights cracks in the United States’ democratic armor, beginning with the Constitution’s legalization of slavery and continuing through to the Trump presidency.
-
Against Democracy: New Preface
By Jason BrennanFor versions of this argument, see Rousseau 1997; Gould 1988,45–85. Carol Gould argues that democracy is necessary for the good of autonomous self-government and goes on to assert that citizens are entitled to democracy. 18.
-
Profiles in Ignorance: How America's Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber
By Andy BorowitzExamines the intellectual deterioration of American politics, from Ronald Reagan to Dan Quayle, from George W. Bush to Sarah Palin, to its apotheosis in Donald J. Trump.
-
James Madison and the Making of America
By Kevin R. C. GutzmanFor an account ofthe Shawnee Prophet and Tecumseh's anti-American campaign, see Gregory Evans Dowd, A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Strugglefor Unity, 1745–1815 (Baltimore, MD:Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993).
-
The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History - Second Edition
By Isaiah BerlinThis new edition features a revised text that supplants all previous versions, English translations of the many passages in foreign languages, a new foreword in which Berlin biographer Michael Ignatieff explains the enduring appeal of ...
-
Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom
By Ilya SominHow foot voting outperforms ballot box voting -- Foot voting and federalism -- Foot voting and international migration -- Foot voting in the private sector -- Foot voting and self-determination -- Problems and keyhole solutions -- The foot ...
-
The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London & the Limits of Eminent Domain
By Ilya SominWith controversy over takings sure to continue, The Grasping Hand offers the first book-length analysis of Kelo by a legal scholar, alongside a broader history of the dispute over public use and eminent domain and an evaluation of options ...
-
Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government
By Larry M. Bartels, Christopher H. AchenWhy our belief in government by the people is unrealistic—and what we can do about it Democracy for Realists assails the romantic folk-theory at the heart of contemporary thinking about democratic politics and government, and offers a ...
-
Against Elections
By David Van ReybrouckA small book with great weight and urgency to it, this is both a history of democracy and a clarion call for change.
-
The Ethics of Voting
By Jason BrennanThe first laborer at McDonald's is worth more than the second or third is. In fact, at some point, adding an additional unit of a factor of production often yields negative returns—for example, at some point adding an additional worker ...