Question 1

The process whereby votes are exchanged to gain support for legislation is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Logrolling is the practice of exchanging votes among legislators to gain support for legislation. This practice is often used to achieve a compromise and pass controversial bills. Rational ignorance refers to the tendency of voters to not take the time to educate themselves on political issues if they believe their individual vote will not make a difference. Simple majority voting is the process of passing a bill when over 50% of legislators vote in favor of it. Special interest voting refers to interest groups lobbying legislators in order to influence their votes.

Question 2

Special interest groups are subsets of __________ that hold (usually)intense preferences for or against a particular government service, activity, or policy.

Accepted Answer

Special interest groups are subsets of the general population, meaning they are a smaller group of individuals with specific interests or concerns within the larger population. Bureaucrats, elected officials, and candidates for political office may be influenced by special interest groups, but they are not the same as these groups.

Question 3

Public choice is concerned with decision making by

Accepted Answer

Public choice is concerned with decision making by the government. It examines how politicians, bureaucrats, and other public officials make decisions and how these decisions affect the allocation of resources and the distribution of benefits and costs in society. It also analyzes how individuals and interest groups try to influence these decisions through lobbying, elections, and other political activities.

Question 4

The state of choosing not to acquire information because the costs of acquiring the information are greater than the benefits is referred to as

Accepted Answer

Rational ignorance refers to the decision not to acquire information because the costs of acquiring that information exceed the potential benefits. This decision can be rational because the information may not have a significant impact on the decision-making process or the outcome.

Question 5

It has often been remarked that Democratic candidates are more liberal in the Democratic primaries and Republican candidates are more conservative in the Republican primaries than either is in the general election. The explanation for this is most probably that

Accepted Answer

In the primaries, candidates are facing a more ideologically extreme base of voters than they will in the general election. As a result, candidates may shift their positions to appeal to this more extreme group. However, in the general election, candidates must appeal to a much broader range of voters, including independents and moderates. Therefore, they will moderate their positions to appeal to the median voter, who is likely to be more moderate than the median voter in the primaries. The median voter preferences are more to the left (right) in the primaries than in the general election, which explains why Democratic candidates are more liberal in the primaries and Republican candidates are more conservative in the primaries.

Question 6

Congressman A promises to vote for a bill that Congressmen B and C are sponsoring, and in return both B and C promise to vote for a future bill that A is sponsoring. This practice is called

Accepted Answer

This practice is commonly known as "logrolling," where lawmakers trade votes on different bills in order to gain support for their own measures. It is a type of political bargaining often criticized for allowing unrelated measures to be passed through backroom deals instead of individual merit.

Question 7

According to public choice theorists, people behave differently in the market sector than in the public sector because

Accepted Answer

Public choice theorists argue that institutional arrangements (e.g. rules, regulations, incentives) in the market sector and the public sector create different incentives for individuals to behave in certain ways. In the market sector, individuals are motivated by self-interest and are incentivized to make choices that maximize their own profit or benefit. In the public sector, individuals may still be motivated by self-interest, but institutional arrangements often incentivize them to act in ways that benefit the public good or their constituents. Therefore, institutional arrangements are the primary reason why people behave differently in the two sectors.

Question 8

Exhibit 32-2 
Refer to Exhibit 32-2-(a). Two candidates are competing for an electorate consisting of 9 voters labeled A-I shown positioned with respect to their ideological stands on issues. The median voter theory would predict that candidates will assume the ideological position(s)

Accepted Answer

The answer of Exhibit 32-2 
Refer to Exhibit 32-2-(a). Two...

Question 9

Special interest groups

Accepted Answer

Special interest groups often have a specific agenda or set of interests that they prioritize over the interests of the general public. They may therefore lobby for public policies that benefit their own interests, but may not necessarily benefit the overall welfare of society. This can lead to situations where public policies are implemented that benefit special interest groups, but may have negative consequences for the general public.

Question 10

Low voter turnouts that appear to be a result of voter apathy may instead be a result of

Accepted Answer

Cost-benefit calculations refer to the perceived value of spending time and energy on voting versus the potential impact of the election outcome on the individual. Low voter turnout may be a result of individuals deciding that the effort required to vote is not worth the potential outcome. This is often attributed to voter apathy, but it is actually a rational decision based on personal interests and perceived impact. Government intervention, special interest group activity, and logrolling may all affect elections, but they are not directly related to the decision of individuals not to vote.

Question 11

Which of the following is a prediction of the median voter model for a two person political race?

Accepted Answer

The median voter model predicts that in a two-person race, candidates will move towards the center to capture the median voter. If a candidate is behind in the polls, moving closer to the opponent's position (who is presumably capturing the median voter) is a strategy to win over some of these voters.

Question 12

Simple majority voting sometimes leads to projects being undertaken whose costs are greater than the benefits. How is this possible?

Accepted Answer

Simple majority voting only takes into account the number of votes in favor of a project, not the intensity of those preferences. This can lead to situations where a small number of people with strong preferences in favor of a costly project can outweigh a larger number of people with weaker preferences against it. Additionally, rational ignorance (where voters choose not to become informed about an issue because the cost of doing so outweighs the benefit) and free riding (where voters rely on others to make informed decisions) can further contribute to the possibility of projects being undertaken whose costs are greater than the benefits.

Question 13

Special interest groups are usually

Accepted Answer

Special interest groups focus on specific issues that are important to them, and therefore tend to be well-informed on those issues. However, their level of knowledge on other political or economic issues may vary.

Question 14

According to public choice theory, low voter turnouts are the result of voters

Accepted Answer

Public choice theory suggests that individuals act rationally and make choices based on the costs and benefits associated with those choices. When it comes to voting, individuals may weigh the costs of voting (e.g. taking time off work, traveling to a polling place) against the benefits (e.g. the likelihood of their preferred candidate winning or the perceived impact of their vote on public policy). Therefore, low voter turnout may be attributed to individuals choosing not to vote because they perceive the costs to outweigh the benefits.

Question 15

The simple majority decision rule may generate results that are

Accepted Answer

The answer of The simple majority decision rule may generate...

Question 16

If it is assumed that people vote for the candidate who comes closer to matching their own views, then

Accepted Answer

This assumption suggests that candidates will adjust their positions to align more closely with the majority of voters' views to gain more support, especially if they are behind in polls. This strategy is aimed at attracting undecided voters or those whose views are not strongly aligned with the leading candidate.

Question 17

If it is assumed that people vote for the candidate who comes closer to matching their own views, to win votes in a two-person race

Accepted Answer

In a two-person race, if candidates aim to win the maximum number of votes by aligning with the views of the electorate, they are likely to move toward the middle of the political spectrum. This is because the majority of voters often hold moderate views, and positioning closer to the center allows candidates to appeal to a broader range of voters.

Question 18

Rational ignorance refers to voter-citizens choosing to be uninformed about politics and government on an individual basis because

Accepted Answer

Rational ignorance occurs when individuals choose to remain uninformed about politics and government because they believe that the benefits of becoming informed (such as the ability to make better decisions or the satisfaction of being knowledgeable about politics) are less than the costs (such as the time and effort required to become informed or the potential for anxiety or frustration associated with political issues). It is not necessarily due to apathy, ignorance, or laziness.

Question 19

According to public choice theorists, the behavior of people employed in the public sector is likely to differ from the behavior of people employed in the private sector because

Accepted Answer

Public choice theorists argue that individuals, regardless of their psychological profile, respond to incentives and self-interest. While both public and private sector employees aim to maximize their net benefit, the institutional settings differ in terms of the incentives and constraints. In the public sector, there may be less competition, less accountability, and less direct financial incentives, leading to different behavior compared to the private sector. Thus, the same objective to maximize net benefit will produce different behavior in different institutional settings.

Question 20

"In two hours the polls will close. I know I should probably vote, but it is raining, and besides, there is a basketball game on TV tonight, so I'll just stay in." This person is exhibiting

Accepted Answer

The person is weighing the costs (going out in the rain and missing a basketball game) against the benefits (voting) and deciding that the costs outweigh the benefits, which is a form of decision making based on cost-benefit considerations.

Quiz 18: Public Choice and Special-Interest-Group Politics