On Being a Private, Ideological Voter

 

In our discussion of the Kalt & Zupan article, we talked about the role of ideology in voting. Ideology, defined as a system of beliefs that impacts the way that you view various issues/policies, can cause both voters and their representatives to vote against their pure economic interests and in favor of the so-called “public” interest. Voters may choose to oppose a strip mining bill, even though it would reduce energy costs, because of the damaging and unsightly effects it would have on the environment. They are empowered to vote against their economic interests because the costs of their decisions are widely dispersed, and there is a low probability that their vote will affect the outcome of the decision. 

Citizens “voting” in private markets, on the other hand, will inevitably be the deciding vote of any individual decision and will likely bear the entire cost of their choice. These circumstances make it more likely that consumers will - for example - buy  Nike shoes despite deploring their manufacturing practices. When we discussed this, I realized that I am an outlier among citizens “voting” in private markets; I weigh  ideology more heavily than the average consumer likely does. I came to this conclusion because of my unwillingness to use Amazon. 

For many people, including my parents, Amazon has replaced running errands. It saves time and personal transportation costs, while often providing cheaper prices than alternatives. In this way, it is in my and others’ economic interests to use Amazon for our purchases. However, I believe that Amazon can be harmful to the communities it enters. It can easily overpower and decimate small businesses; it promotes rampant consumerism; and it uses wasteful packaging and transportation processes. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, more than half of American voters believe Amazon’s size makes it so dangerous that it should be broken up.  However, because they bear the whole cost of pursuing more costly alternatives, many of these voters continue to use Amazon. If possible, I don’t - showing the utility I get from ideological “voting” is higher than the utility I would get from pursuing my economic interest in this case.