maximize their salaries and their influence. Voters seek to maximize their
own utility. To this end, voters look to the government to provide them
with goods and services and income transfers that raise their personal
utility. No one cares about the general interest!
Public choice theory seeks to explain how public officials make their
decisions. They are assumed to act not in the best interests of their
constituents but according to their own agendas, which often conflict
with the public interest.
Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS/Newscom
On the one hand, this surely is not a completely accurate characterization
of motives. Some elected officials have acted in what they perceive to be
the public interest, hoping to be vindicated by history even if they know
they risk losing the next election. Some civil servants expose inside
corruption—so-called whistleblowers—even though it can cost them their
jobs. Some high-income individuals vote for the political party that
advocates the most, not the least, income redistribution, and some poorer