Exam 32: Public Choice and Special-Interest-Group Politics

Public choice theorists assert that persons who change jobs from,say,a government position to a business position,sometimes alter their work behavior and attitudes because

The median voter model predicts that

According to public choice theorists,the behavior of people employed in the public sector is likely to differ from the behavior of people employed in the private sector because

Logrolling refers to the

Constitutional economists

Simple majority voting will generate the same result whether taxes are equally divided or unequally divided.

Simple majority rule can generate inefficient outcomes because

A state of rational ignorance

Rent seeking is the actions of

Why do many prospective voters choose to watch sports on television rather than watching the news or political roundtables? In your answer,be sure to mention the role played by rational ignorance.

Special interest groups are subsets of __________ that hold (usually)intense preferences for or against a particular government service,activity,or policy.

Exhibit 32-4 -Refer to Exhibit 32-4. At the market equilibrium price of the good,producers' surplus is the area

When a decision is made based on a simple majority vote it is possible for the total benefits to the community of this decision to be less than the total costs to the community of this decision.

Which of the following is a prediction of the median voter model for a two person political race?

Suppose candidate A is conservative and candidate B is liberal and both are currently positioned away from the "middle ground" toward their respective ends of the political spectrum.We would expect that as the campaign draws closer to election day,

"In two hours the polls will close.I know I should probably vote,but it is raining,and besides,there is a basketball game on TV tonight,so I'll just stay in." This person is exhibiting

A public choice theorist believes that

Candidate X and Candidate Y have a debate.X's advisers believe that one result of the debate is that Y will appear to the voters as further to the left than before.This is good news for X

Exhibit 32-3 -Public choice economists often explain low voter turnouts in terms of

Candidate A says,"Health care is too expensive in the United States.We need to do something-and quickly-to develop a better,more responsive,less expensive health care system." Candidate B,who is running against candidate A in a two-person race,says,"Health care is too expensive in the United States.We need to do something about it and quickly.I suggest that we have the federal government develop a centralized system for delivering health care in this country." If you know nothing else about the two candidates,it follows that