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ON_EDGE

                                              January  5, 2007

It's a point often bemoaned by
political scientists (though not
terribly well-publicized for *some*
reason): they can't really explain
why anyone bothers to vote.

Does it make any difference
at all if you go to the polls
on election day?

The only time it would matter is if
the rest of the votes just happened    That's with the
to split 50-50, and your own vote      winner-take-all        Systems with
decided the issue.                     design of a typical    proportional
                                       American election.     representation
The odds of that happening                                    have a different
are so astoundingly low, it's                                 dynamic, but I
difficult to imagine how any                                  don't think the
other use of your time would                                  problem goes away.
not be more sensible.

   And on top of that        So you know all of those
   you need to add           editorials, bemoaning the
   in the uncertainty        low voter turnout in the US?
   that you actually
   understand what's             Every one of them is
   going on well enough          essentially bullshit.
   that your deciding
   vote would be the               The real question is
   correct one.                    why would anyone do
                                   something so quixotic
                                   as voting.


   Myself, I can usually manage to avoid
   this pit of rational actor futility          A popular line
   with a few simple rationalizations           would be: "but
   (voting is fun: I drop by a public           if *everyone* did
   building I don't normally enter,             that than the
   say hello to the poll watchers,              election would
   examine the election machinery               be decided by
   in use, check out the other people           a tiny group of
   who have been presuaded to vote,             people, and almost
   and so on).                                  by definition,
                                                the stupidiest
                                                ones that don't
                                                grasp the game
   What's worse though is the                   theory".
   knowledge that I'm too far
   off the center for anyone                          I'm not going to
   in politics to care what                           bother to argue
   I think.                                           against that (at
                                                      the moment), but
      Tomorrow morning I'm going to                   I suspect that
      get up and run off to join a                    it doesn't really
      flash mob of thousands of                       hold up that well.
      people spelling out "Impeach!"
      on the beach, for the benefit
      of some helicopter photo ops.

        But who the hell is going
        to care?  A bunch of people      (And the SF electorate -- as
        in SF want to see Bush           well as Berkeley -- has already
        impeached?  Well duh.            approved an initiative calling
                                         for impeachment.  Pelosi knows
        I can write all the              her constituency wants him out.)
        letters to Nancy Pelosi I
        want -- but why should she                    "But we don't have
        pay attention to me?                           the votes!"

           Who am I going to vote for?                But then, she didn't
           Some Bush-league Republican?               try to get them.


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