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Vote if it makes you feel good---whether out of a sense of participation, obligation, or duty. But don't kid yourself that you're "making a difference". The p
by mhartl 18y ago
Vote if it makes you feel good---whether out of a sense of participation, obligation, or duty. But don't kid yourself that you're "making a difference". The probability that your vote makes any difference is negligible. And please don't give people who don't vote a hard time; theirs is arguably the more rational choice, so there's no need to be self-righteous about it. (I am voting, BTW, but mainly to have an answer to the question "Who did you vote for?" I have to admit that feels a little cowardly.)
- johns 18y agoThe odds are your vote won't make a difference. But there's a chance, however remote, that it might make a huge difference. That's reason enough for me.
- Prrometheus 18y agoDo you by any chance play the lottery?
- johns 18y agoAbout as often as I vote
- mechanical_fish 18y agoThe probability that your vote makes any difference is negligible. On the contrary: On any given issue, my vote cancels out a vote on the other side. That's a pretty important role. Without my vote, my side's excess votes would fail to carry the day. The only way to have one's vote fail to "make a difference" is by finding someone who votes exactly opposite to you on every issue and making a pact with them not to vote. But you have to make sure they don't sneak off and vote when you're not looking. All in all, it's a lot easier to just cast a ballot.
- DEinspanjer 18y agoSure, if you are a member of the two parties that make up the US political system. If you are not a member of those two parties, your vote holds no worth within the political system. The two major parties normally dismiss or deride issues made by the green or libertarian parties. In some cases, it is possible that my vote outside the two party system can cause the person I least prefer to be elected. Yay! Until the US abolishes the electoral college and institutes a more representative election system such as an approval or preferential system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_voting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_voting), I will continue to be dissatisfied with voting for the president.
- nihilocrat 18y agoPreferential voting probably won't work. I think the two-party system is a bit of a result of culture: we feel the need to shoehorn every political issue into an "us" vs. "them" debate. Don't forget, however, that there have been third parties in the past that have been popular enough to carry states. Unfortunately, they are generally one-trick ponies that are only present in a single election. Examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1948 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_194... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_1912 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._presidential_election,_191...
- eru 18y agoWhy do you think it won't work? And what about approval voting?
- mhartl 18y agoThe probability that your vote makes any difference is negligible. On any given issue, my vote cancels out a vote on the other side. There is no conflict between these two statements, but only one is relevant to a rational decision to vote. "Canceling" a vote is irrelevant unless the margin of victory is ~1 vote. When there are ~10^6-10^7 voters in a typical state, the probability that this is the case is, alas, << 1.