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Homo moralis goes to the voting booth: Coordination and information aggregation

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  • Ingela Alger
  • Jean-François Laslier

Abstract

This paper revisits two classical problems in the theory of voting—viz. the divided majority problem and the strategic revelation of information—in the light of evolutionarily founded partial Kantian morality. It is shown that, compared to electorates consisting of purely self-interested voters, such Kantian morality helps voters solve coordination problems and improves the information aggregation properties of equilibria, even for modest levels of morality.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingela Alger & Jean-François Laslier, 2022. "Homo moralis goes to the voting booth: Coordination and information aggregation," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 34(2), pages 280-312, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:34:y:2022:i:2:p:280-312
    DOI: 10.1177/09516298221081811
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    Cited by:

    1. Jean-François Laslier, 2023. "Universalization and altruism," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 60(4), pages 579-594, May.
    2. Thomas Eichner & Rüdiger Pethig, 2024. "How Important Are IEAs for Mitigation If Countries Are of the Homo Moralis Type?," CESifo Working Paper Series 11040, CESifo.
    3. Alger, Ingela & Laslier, Jean-François & Dierks, Konrad, 2021. "Does universalization ethics justify participation in large elections?," TSE Working Papers 21-1193, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Apr 2024.
    4. Ingela Alger & Jean-François Laslier, 2021. "Homo moralis goes to the voting booth: a new theory of voter turnout," Working Papers hal-03163438, HAL.
    5. Esteban Muñoz Sobrado, 2022. "Taxing Moral Agents," CESifo Working Paper Series 9867, CESifo.
    6. Zehui, Zhao, 2023. "Pro-Environmental Behavior and Actions: Review of current theories and agenda for future research," SocArXiv p27hb, Center for Open Science.
    7. Zehui, Zhao, 2023. "Pro-Environmental Behavior and Actions: A Review of the Literature," OSF Preprints cajup, Center for Open Science.
    8. Thomas Eichner & Marco Runkel, 2024. "Homo Oeconomicus as the Homo Moralis’ Party Pooper: Heterogeneous Morality in Public Good Games," CESifo Working Paper Series 11231, CESifo.

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