[EM] Truncation

Alex Small asmall at physics.ucsb.edu
Wed Sep 18 18:03:31 PDT 2002


> Well, real election results seem to suggest that even when the
> pertinent  information is perfect (i.e, "you're not influencing the
> election unless  you vote for either Bush or Gore") people will still
> vote in non-strategic fashions.


Yes, but such non-strategic voting is rare.  Most minor-party candidates
only get a few percent of the vote.  Granted, most of our third parties
tend to be pretty radical (Greens are more liberal than the Dems,
Constitution Party is more conservative than the GOP, Libertarians have
ideological purity tests, etc.), but if enough people were willing to vote
non-strategically a third party that's closer to the center would emerge.

I won't venture a guess in this forum about what that party's ideology
would be, but the fact that Duverger's Law holds virtually everywhere
suggests that most people do vote strategically.


Alex


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