Is your vote altruistic or self-interested?

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 377 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon.  Is your vote altruistic or self-interested? (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

In 2015, Jen Henderson, a 23 years-old college student, ended up as the sole voter in a scheduled vote to impose a sales tax increase. The case of Jen Henderson and the Columbia, Missouri Community Improvement District is an entertaining and illustrative case of altruistic and self-interested values at play in our voting behavior. In April of that year, the Columbia City Council stablished the Community Improvement District as requested by a group of property owner along a 1.5 mile-strip of Business Loop 70. Under the prevailing law, a sales tax could only be imposed by the voters within a jurisdiction unless there were no voters in the jurisdiction. If there were no voters, the tax could be imposed by the property owners within the jurisdiction.  The property owners wanted a sales tax because it imposed the costs not on themselves, but on shoppers. Without such a tax, the property owners would have to bear the expenses of their plan to pay down development debt and finance capital improvements on the strip. Consequently, they designed a Community Improvement District without registered voters so that they could freely impose a half-cent sales tax increase.  However, things did not go as planned. The property owners were not counting on Jennifer Henderson, a student at the University of Missouri and a resident of a university-owned residence within the district. As it turned out, Henderson was the only voter in the district and had the power to enact or reject the sales tax proposal. Henderson was not inclined to vote for the sales tax noting that it would negatively impact low-income residents nearby. The property owners tried to get Henderson to “unregister,” and when she refused they decided to postpone the election.  Most (but not all) studies of voter motivation conclude that voters behave similarly to Jen Henderson, and do not vote based on their narrow self-interests. Social scientists call this altruism, “sociotropic” voting. Sociotropic voters vote on the perceived interests of society as a whole rather that on their own self-interest.  We do know that self-interested behavior does influence voting in at least some issues such as gun control and smoking policies, but scholars are divided on the preponderance of sociotropic vs self-interested voting. Yet, it is clear that a self-interested majority can, for their benefit,  inflict higher costs on the minority. Here is a simple illustration borrowed from political scholar Ilya Somin:  Consider a policy that creates $100 of benefits for each person in 51 percent of the population at a cost of $200 for each person in the other 49 percent of the population. In this illustration, the harm imposed on the minority ($200 x 49 = $9,800) is almost twice as much as the benefit to the majority ($100 x 51 = $5,100). And yet, a self-interested democratic majority is likely to adopt this policy.  The underlying proposition here is whether selfish voting behavior undermines democracy itself. Does democracy require altruistic voters? It may be tempting to answer no; but we must keep in mind the consequences from voters in the Jim Crow-era in the American South, voters in the anti-Semitic Germany of the Weimar Republic, or more recently, voters in the newly democratized countries in the Muslim world.  If voting behavior is self-interested, we need constraints on the scope of government powers to prevent a majority from engineering undesirable policy outcomes. Limiting government power is necessary to mitigate the potential problems of selfish voting behavior, and also the excesses of sociotropic voting.  Unfortunately, in the United States, the executive branch of the federal government alone has grown to fifteen cabinet-level departments, fifty-six independent regulatory agencies, and four “quasi-official” agencies (Somin). And, total government spending accounts for over 36 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.  We continue to increase the scope of government and it is not clear to me if this is because we vote sociotropically or because we vote selfishly. But, as F.A. Hayek reminded us: “Thought democracy is probably the best form of limited government, it becomes an absurdity if it turns into unlimited government.”  Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon.  Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now

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