Yesterday, I posted on the serious, if unpopular argument, for Rational Voter Ignorance. Are there, even beyond opposing arguments, other options for voters and society? Yes, of course.
A few quick points — these being ones that interest me for Whitewater, specifically —
1. Political Ignorance Isn’t Rational in Whitewater, as Our Election Results are Often Close.
Voters can make a difference in Whitewater. Many of our local elections are close, with districts being decided locally by only several handfuls of votes, in a city with thousands of voters. Consider that our local results have been within two votes between winner and defeated candidate, or are uncontested, or are often decided by far less than 100 votes.
These close results reveal the self-gratifying myth on behalf of local incumbency — that it represents some sort of mandate, etc. No — many races are decided by small margins or totals, or without any opposition, and then incumbents claim a mandate from on High.
It is easy to believe what one wants to believe.
A few more voters in local races, informed and motivated, would make a great difference here.
2. Rational Voter Ignorance Produces an Irrational Society, Itself a Risk to the Individual.
Somin makes this point, himself:
In the political realm, on the other hand, widespread rational ignorance helps to spread conspiracy theory in two ways. First, the more ignorant you are about politics and economics, the more plausible simple conspiracy theory explanations of events are likely to seem. If you don’t understand basic economics, you are more likely to believe that rising oil prices are caused by a conspiracy among oil companies or that the subprime crisis was caused by a conspiracy among banks. If you don’t understand the basic workings of our political system, you are more likely to swallow the idea that the federal government could carry out something like the 9/11 attack and then (falsely) blame it on Osama Bin Laden without the truth being quickly exposed through leaks and hostile media coverage.
We are a community filled with asinine conspiracy theories, suspicions, etc. Some of these men and women are closer to children than mature adults, their self-certainty only confirming the condition.
3. An Informed Electorate is Better Check Against Self-Interested Politicians.
I strongly believe that incumbents’ self-justification of many actions as ‘in the public interest,’ or ‘for the common good,’ is just rationalization for their own continued tenure. It’s absurd to believe — no matter how much they insist — that ordinary self-interest is repealed once they’ve taken office. They are ordinary people in the grip of self-interest as are all others.
A check against their rationalizations is better made from and by an informed citizenry.
If that’s not true here, in Whitewater, then nothing’s true here.
For a much longer discussion of some of these points, and others more detailed, see Jeffrey Friedman’s “Public Ignorance and Democracy.”
Ignorance is the last thing we need here, sadly. It’s just too high a price to pay, locally (and so easily changed in a town of thin margins).