>Many people vote against their own self interest---universal healthcare, larger tax credits to the poor, cash welfare---because they think "if I can't afford $

>Many people vote against their own self interest---universal healthcare, larger tax credits to the poor, cash welfare---because they think "if I can't afford $15000 to give to the Feds, no one can". They mostly don't. Poor and lower-middle-class people consistently vote for the Democrats, upper-income people consistently vote for the Republicans. However, the poor are much less likely to actually vote, sometimes because their vote is suppressed, and often because neither party is actually offering them universal social services or cash assistance. Then, throw in issues like gerrymandering, winner-take-all elections, and the Electoral College, and you've got one of the greatest voter inefficiencies (failure of votes to translate into seats in government) in the Western world. The problem is not that democracy fails because people are too irrational. The problem is that the people are approximately rational, but the system is designed to shut out the voices of the majority.