To Vote or Not to Vote - by Andre Blais (Paperback)

About the Book

Blais tackles the controversial topic of rational choice theory in an engaging and personal way, bringing together the opposing theories and literatures, and offering convincing tests of these different viewpoints in order to find out what makes people decide to vote.

Book Synopsis

What makes people decide to vote? In addressing this simple question, Andru00e9 Blais examines the factors that increase or decrease turnout at the aggregate, cross-national level and considers what affects peopleu2019s decision to vote or to abstain. In doing so, Blais assesses the merits and limitations of the rational choice model in explaining voter behavior. The past few decades have witnessed a rise in the popularity of the rational choice model in accounting for voter turnout, and more recently a groundswell of outspoken opposition to rational choice theory.

Blais tackles this controversial subject in an engaging and personal way, bringing together the opposing theories and literatures, and offering convincing tests of these different viewpoints. Most important, he handles the discussion in a clear and balanced manner. Using new data sets from many countries, Blais concludes that while rational choice is an important tool--even when it doesnu2019t work--its empirical contribution to understanding why people vote is quite limited.

Whether one supports rational choice theory or opposes it, Blaisu2019s evenhanded and timely analysis will certainly be of interest, and is well-suited for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level classes.

Review Quotes

Blais examines the vital issues of what makes people decide to vote in political elections and referendums. The informative and very highly recommended text is enhanced for political sciece students with a pertinent mumber of relevant appendices.-- "Wisconsin Bookwatch"

Blais very carefully lays out the different versions of rational choice theory applied to voting, and shows logically, empirically, and comparatively where they work and where they do not. It is the most thorough treatment of the subject I have ever seen. He does a splendid job of clarifying difficult material without 'dumbing it down.' The work is benchmark.-- "Michael S. Lewis-Beck, University of Iowa"

Bringing to bear a wealth of data from a broad range of countries, Andre Blais offers a smart and evenhanded assessment of the empirical adequacy of rational choice theories of voting. Readers will find Blais's synthesis both useful and insightful.-- "Donald Green, Yale University"

About the Author

Andre Blais is professor of political science and fellow with the Centre de recherche et developpement en economique at the Universite de Montreal. He has published twelve books and more than one hundred articles in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and Public Choice. He was a member of the editorial board of the International Encyclopedia of Elections, and he is the principal co-investigator of the Canadian Election Study.