Others have reached this conclusion in
reaction to the tendency of many political
scientists and economists to think of politics
as a form of economic activity. In politics
and public affairs, according to this view
(e.g. Schumpeter, 1962; Downs, 1957), the
citizen is essentially a consumer. Political
parties offer candidates and platforms in
an attempt to win votes, and sensible
consumer-citizens vote so as to strike the
best bargain for themselves. If they decide
that the political market place offers nothing
appealing, or that their resources are better
invested elsewhere, consumer-citizens will
stay away from the ballot box and quite
wisely forsake political activity. They may
even find that it is rational for them to
remain largely ignorant of public affairs.
There is little that one vote can accomplish,
after all, so why waste time studying the
issues and assessing the candidates in order
to cast a meaningless vote?