Exam 20: Political Economy and Public Choice

Ten farmers, in a society with 100 people, would collectively gain $100,000 from a farm subsidy. All 100 people would pay the $300,000 cost of the subsidy program. Are the farmers willing to lobby the government in support of the subsidy?

President Nixon increased his popularity just before the 1972 election by:

The primary policy affecting the United States sugar market is a(n):

According to the median voter theorem, the politician with a platform closest to the ideals of the median voter will win an election.

The United States federal government ______ the amount of sugar entering the country.

Rational ignorance occurs when a person chooses to be misinformed when there is a large benefit for being informed.

Special interest groups have a large incentive to be ________ about legislation that benefits them directly, whereas voters tend to be ________ regarding these issues.

Just before the 1972 election, ________ sent a letter to 24 million Social Security recipients informing them of increased payment benefits.

The self-interest of politicians ______ with the social interest.

If the median voter theory holds in the first election, come reelection time, the candidates will reposition themselves closer to the median voter.

According to the median voter theorem, when do political outcomes change?

Special interest groups effectively lower the price of sugar to United States consumers.

The costs of many government projects (such as bridges, roads, and museums) create:

The political power of farmers has increased as the share of farmers in the population has decreased.

When a policy is highly visible, appears often in the newspapers, and has a major effect on the lives of millions of Americans, very often:

Which of the following public policies does NOT fit the diffused costs and concentrated benefits story?

Which of the following statements is TRUE? I. Sugar consumers pay higher prices because of sugar quotas, a sufficient incentive for them to campaign against politicians that favor quotas. II. Sugar producers know more about sugar quotas than do sugar consumers because the quota system has a large effect on sugar industry profits. III. When it comes to sugar trade policy, sugar producers are rationally informed and sugar consumers are rationally ignorant.

Evidence from an important study of media ownership concludes that:

Ignorance is

Public choice is the study of: