Substantive Representation: Public Competence and Policy Responsiveness Flashcards
why is collective wisdom rational (page / shapiro)
people update their opinions and knowledge, even with incomplete knowledge.
process of updating is what makes it rational.
but if the input is wrong or low quality, people will not get to good positions.
collective opinion (page / shapiro)
even though you have people who change opinions / don’t know what their opinion is, there is always a central tendency / stable collective
when are governments less responsive (thermostatic model)
if they are in a comfortable position (will win anyway) why do all the work and respond to the voters when they are going to vote for you anyway
= margin victory
weakness thermostatic model
public opinion is not unified, but fragmented.
is the average still meaningful? you you have an average opinion, but no one really has this average opinion.
this means you’re kind of representing no one, which is a problem.
is ‘average’ useful?
