Question 1

The model predicting victory in a two-person race for the candidate closer to occupying the center of the voter distribution is built on the assumption that

Accepted Answer

The model assumes that people vote for the candidate who comes closer to matching their own views, which implies that voters are not strictly adhering to party lines but rather evaluating candidates based on their positions and stances on issues.

Question 2

Politicians will usually

Accepted Answer

Politicians usually want to appeal to as many people as possible, and being perceived as extreme in any way can turn off potential supporters. Therefore, they tend to avoid being labeled as either a "right-winger" or a "left-winger" and prefer to present themselves as moderate or centrist.

Question 3

In a simple majority vote on a public project,

Accepted Answer

In a simple majority vote, the project may be undertaken even though the total costs exceed the total benefits because the decision is based on the number of votes in favor of the project, not on a comparison of costs and benefits. This means that the total benefits may not outweigh the total costs, but if more people vote in favor of the project than against it, it will still be approved.

Question 4

Public choice is concerned with

Accepted Answer

Public choice is a field of economics that focuses on the analysis of government decision making, specifically how politicians, bureaucrats, and voters make decisions and how they interact with each other in the political process.

Question 5

A public choice theorist would be most likely to say that government failure is a consequence of the

Accepted Answer

Public choice theory assumes that politicians, bureaucrats, and voters are all rational actors who pursue their own self-interest. Therefore, government failure is not the result of individual malfeasance or irrationality, but rather is a natural outcome of the political process.

Question 6

Suppose candidate A is conservative and candidate B is liberal and both are currently positioned away from the "middle ground" toward their respective ends of the political spectrum.We would expect that as the campaign draws closer to election day,

Accepted Answer

As the campaign draws closer to election day, both candidates are likely to move toward the middle in order to appeal to undecided voters and capture more moderate voters who may be turned off by extreme positions. This strategy of moderation is often employed in general elections, where candidates aim to appeal to a broad range of voters rather than just their base.

Question 7

Exhibit 32-1
 
-Refer to Exhibit 32-1.The exhibit shows the breakdown of benefits and costs for a four-person town of a proposed $1,200 addition in books to the public library.How will each of the four persons,A-D,vote? (The first answer in the list is how person A would vote,the second is how person B would vote,and so on,so that "for" indicates that the individual would be in favor of having the additional books purchased by the library. )

Accepted Answer

The answer of Exhibit 32-1
 
-Refer to Exhibit 32-1.The exhibit...

Question 8

Which of the following statements about a political campaign is false?

Accepted Answer

Candidates often tend to talk in general terms and avoid specifics in their campaigns, not the other way around.

Question 9

Public choice refers to

Accepted Answer

Public choice refers to the application of economic principles and tools to public-sector decision making. It analyzes the behavior and decision-making processes of politicians, bureaucrats, and voters in the public sector, and aims to understand how they make decisions that affect public policy. This includes studying issues such as rent-seeking, regulatory capture, and the incentives that influence public officials.

Question 10

Political candidates running for the same office tend to voice

Accepted Answer

The answer of Political candidates running for the same office...

Question 11

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

Accepted Answer

Public choice theorists argue that people in the market sector and people in the public sector behave differently because they operate under different institutional arrangements. The market operates under competitive pressures and profit incentives, while the public sector operates under political pressures and bureaucratic incentives. This fundamental difference in institutional arrangements creates different incentives and constraints for individuals in each sector, which shapes their behavior.

Question 12

During an election,a candidate who is not doing as well in the polls as his or her opponent will

Accepted Answer

If a candidate is not doing as well in the polls as his or her opponent, one strategy may be to modify his or her position to align more closely with that of the opponent. This can be a way to appeal to a wider range of voters who may be more in favor of the opponent's position. It is important, however, that the candidate does not completely abandon his or her core beliefs and values, as this could come across as inauthentic and turn off some voters.

Question 13

Political candidates in a two-person race prefer to be viewed as occupying the center of the political distribution because

Accepted Answer

The candidate who comes closer to the center usually wins the election because they appeal to a larger portion of the electorate. Candidates may also prefer maintaining the status quo, but this is not necessarily related to their position on the political spectrum. While it is true that the electorate may be largely in the "wings" of the distribution, this does not necessarily mean that candidates prefer to be seen as centrist for this reason. Likewise, being a leader is not necessarily tied to occupying the center of the political spectrum.

Question 14

In a political election,a candidate whose positions are on the left will tend to be labeled __________ by his or her opponent.

Accepted Answer

When a candidate's positions are on the left, their opponent may label them as "too far to the left" as a way to discredit their ideas and gain support from more moderate voters.

Question 15

Candidate X and Candidate Y have a debate.X's advisers believe that one result of the debate is that Y will appear to the voters as further to the left than before.This is good news for X

Accepted Answer

If Y was already left-of-center before the debate and appears even further to the left, it may turn off voters who are more moderate or conservative, potentially gaining support for X from those voters. If Y was right-of-center before the debate, appearing further to the left may not necessarily benefit X as much.

Question 16

A political candidate running in a two-person race is likely to occupy

Accepted Answer

In a two-person race, the candidate is likely to occupy the middle of the political spectrum and label his or her opponent as an extremist. This allows the candidate to appeal to a wider range of voters by positioning themselves as a moderate while portraying their opponent as being too extreme in their views.

Question 17

"My opponent in this election says she wants a balanced federal budget,but won't say how it would be achieved." This candidate is trying to

Accepted Answer

The answer of "My opponent in this election says she...

Question 18

A candidate who understands that in a two-person race the person closer to the center of the voter distribution will win is likely to

Accepted Answer

This strategy aligns with the median voter theorem, which suggests that in a two-person race, the candidate whose position is closest to the median voter's preferences is more likely to win. Taking polls to understand voter preferences and then proposing policies that align with those preferences is a practical application of this theory.

Question 19

Public choice theorists assert that persons who change jobs from,say,a government position to a business position,sometimes alter their work behavior and attitudes because

Accepted Answer

Public choice theorists believe that individuals act rationally and weigh the costs and benefits of their behavior in different work settings. Therefore, if a person moves from a government position to a business position, they may alter their behavior and attitudes based on the incentives and constraints of their new environment. For example, in a business setting, there may be more emphasis on competitiveness and profit-maximization, while in a government setting, there may be more of a focus on fulfilling a public service mission.

Question 20

Which of the following statements is false?

Accepted Answer

This statement is false because individuals are unlikely to vote if they feel their vote will make a difference, as the individual cost of voting (time, energy, etc.) outweighs the perceived benefit.

Quiz 20: Public Choice and Special-Interest-Group Politics