My New Book Chapter on “Top-Down and Bottom-Up Solutions to the Problem of Political Ignorance””

My forthcoming guide chapter, “Prime-Down and Backside-Up Options to the Downside of Political Ignorance,” is now accessible free of charge obtain on SSRN. Right here is the summary:

There may be broad, although not common, settlement that widespread voter ignorance and irrational analysis of proof are severe threats to democracy. However there may be deep disagreement over methods for mitigating the hazard. “Prime-down” approaches, akin to epistocracy and lodging extra authority within the fingers of specialists, search to mitigate ignorance by concentrating extra political energy within the fingers of the extra educated segments of the inhabitants. Against this, “bottom-up” approaches search to both elevate the political competence of most people or empower strange individuals in ways in which give them higher incentives to make good choices than typical ballot-box voting does. Examples of bottom-up methods embrace rising voter information by means of schooling, numerous “sortition” proposals, and in addition shifting extra choices to establishments the place residents can “vote with their ft.”

This chapter surveys and critiques a variety of each top-down and bottom-up methods. I conclude that top-down methods have systematic flaws that severely restrict their potential. Whereas they shouldn’t be categorically rejected, we needs to be cautious of adopting them on a big scale. Backside-up methods have vital limitations of their very own. However increasing foot voting alternatives holds extra promise than every other presently accessible choice. The concept of paying voters to extend their information additionally deserves severe consideration.

The chapter builds, partially, on my earlier work, notably parts of my books Free to Transfer: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom and Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Authorities is Smarter. Nevertheless it additionally provides new assessments of a number of methods for assuaging political ignorance, in addition to a brand new means of categorizing such options. I notably wish to spotlight the concept of paying voters to extend their information ranges, which has not gotten almost as a lot consideration because it deserves.