From Brexit to Trump’s election as president of the United States, to the rise of the extreme right wing after the elections in Germany…it seems that the greatest danger in today’s world is perhaps not an economic crisis or even global warming issues, but one that is rooted in people’s minds. The despair people feel when facing the dead-ends that capitalism is heading to, is causing them to lose faith in the “voted” democratic system. Among all kinds of elections, are the decisions made by voters of a rational nature? If not, then is it still necessary to continue this kind of system?
Facing all these doubts, it is perhaps a good time to read “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies”. Apart from explaining our doubts, the book offers us insights into our faith in “democracy”.
The author, Bryan Caplan, is a university professor who has a PhD in Economics from Princeton University. His research focus on areas such as Public Economy, Public Choices, Psychology and Economy, Family Economy, etc. He has published articles in academic journals such as The American Economic Review and the Economic Journal. “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies” was his first academic book. Since its publication in 2007, it has been selected by New York Times and Financial Times among the year’s best books, won the silver prize for Independent Publication Books and has been a great hit among international readers.
Since its publication, it has generated much concern and discussion within the circles of American media and politics, receiving both positive as well as negative criticism. The author not only condemns what is considered by the American government and public as something to be proud of – democracy – but also blames its failure on the “rational non-sense” of the voters, and the fact that American economic policies are heavily affected by the “prejudices” of the voters. It is in this way that votes have been manipulated by organizations and parties lobbying for protectionist and anti-competitive trade policies, thus causing further harm to the American economy.
Looking back to Macau, this phenomenon is applicable here as well. Judging from the results of the Election of the Legislative Council of Macau, although the usual dualistic structures between “the pro-China camp” vs “the opposition camp” have been broken with the emergence of “the middle camp”, thus bringing new scenery on to the politcal front, it is worth noting that in the mainstream, “the irrational voters” are accounted as the majority in Macau. The indifference to political issues and the ignorance of rational discussion among voters are the greatest challenges for the progress of democratization in Macau.
However, what is interesting is that, as is pointed out in the book “The Myth of the Rational Voter”, although the “irrational voters” are the majority, it is not necessarily a bad thing considering the results of elections. So that the “middle camp” can play a decisive role and have an influence in policy making, their voting results are not necessarily worse than those of the “rational voters”.
It is worth noting also, that the book suggests doubts and corrections concerning the two concepts of “rationality” and “rational ignorance” in Economics and Public Choices Theories.
Apart from these, the book presents a great number of quotes from texts and references, revealing the fact that the author not only has a huge descriptive capability, but his knowledge from reading is widely based as well.
The only shortcoming is that the current Chinese version was translated by several translators, creating incoherence among the texts. So if readers have a good command of English, I would suggest reading it directly in its original language, so as not to waste such a great book.