Content by Demarche
Posted at 12:25am on Feb. 19, 2008 So What Happens When A Party Stands for Nothing?
By Demarche
There has been a lot of discussion about sitting out due to a poor candidate. Some (maybe even most here) would say its always a mistake. Fair enough.
To be fair, doing it out of pique or a requirement for a 100% candidate is a little stupid. Doing it out of a desire to see the party advance on the other hand is just good economic sense.
In some discussions earlier I made an attempt to remind readers of Anthony Downs and the economic theory of democracy. While the part that people always remember is candidates shifting positions to get votes, a very important part of the concept is that candidates have no incentive to shift positions for votes they already believe they have. Put another way, if they think you will vote for them automatically, they WILL NOT fight for your beliefs.