Elections in my sorority

In my sorority, our election process for the next executive board just happened this past week. Each pledge class elects two representatives to meet and decide from reading applications who the best suited members for the next exec will be. These two representatives are chosen by popular vote and are supposed to have over 50% approval by each pc(majority rule per Mueller 7.1), but this often doesn't happen so we resort to the two representatives with the largest amount of votes. From being on the exec board during this past year, I am very familiar with the fact that most of the chapter does not utilize their right to vote and have their voice heard within the chapter. Many members do not see their vote of being impactful and do not derive much utility from acting in our elections. However, with less than 50 people per pc, each vote carries significantly greater weight than most other elections. In the equation Ui = p[IVi] + EVi,  the physical impact that an individual has on the vote is substantially higher than they may think.

According to Johnson, individuals have no incentives to invest their time and other resources in obtaining information on issues to make informed voting decisions. Therefore, rational ignorance on public sector issues makes sense to a rational, self-interested individual. However, in our personal situation, the costs of obtaining information are incredibly low as you can choose to vote for your friends who you know very well. Therefore, the C(costs associated with voting) in p*B - C + D is very low. From what we have learned in class, it does not make sense that the entire chapter would not participate as costs to vote are low and potential to have a decisive vote is high. So why wouldn't the chapter elect to vote in selecting who chooses our new leaders? NPR cited that the majority of respondents to their poll listed that they, "feels that voting has little impact on their lives, and that it won't change how the country is run." The personal value or emotional response derived from the process of voting is so low that it is negligible; this may be why members don't choose to exercise their right to vote in our elections.