The Paradox of Voting

 The Paradox of Voting claims that for the rational, self-maximizing individual, the cost of voting will outweigh the benefit. A voter will decide to vote if and only if PB - C > 0, and P is the probability that the individual's vote "matters", i.e. if it is decisive. Because it is so unlikely that the vote will change the results of the election, predicted benefit is extremely small and (any) costs of voting are larger. While in some cases an individual's vote is decisive, this model ignores many other reasons that one might have for voting. A better model is PB + D - C. In this equation, D other reasons to vote such as civic duty, utility derived from the act of voting, social pressure, and expressive value. D does not need to be multiplied by P, because the value derived by the voter does not depend on which candidate wins.