10-30-2014, 01:36 AM
(10-29-2014, 08:04 PM)REnerd Wrote: I wonder how voter turn out correlates to level of education. Are those that turn out (the 30%) disproportionately higher eduction? Are the disproportionately middle/upper class?
Maybe low voter turn out only brings out a certain type of voter - for example, would a higher voter turn out have resulted in better polling for candidates like Jay Aissa? Would the remaining 60% who did not vote, vote less well (less informed, more responsive to media hype)? If everyone was required to vote, could Jay have potentially won?
I am realizing that this is borderline inappropriate and that I am suggesting that true and total democracy is not equipped to always make the best decisions....
Yes, there are charts with education level vs turnout from the US here:
https://www.boundless.com/sociology/text...-646-7854/
(Higher education level = higher vote turnout).
However, I do believe in the wisdom of crowds to some extent. First, the average person can have deep insights about the way the world works. Who am I to say that my opinion should be privileged over theirs, at least in fields where I haven't developed expertise (and even that's not always true, e.g. 50s urban planners). Second, averaging over lots of people can work surprisingly well.