Voter behaviour is often driven by culture and ideology, to the extent of choosing candidates who will not be good for them economically
[CAMBRIDGE] Even as US President Donald Trump tramples longstanding rules and norms with abandon, he continues to enjoy strong support from a large share of voters, including many of the lower and middle-income Americans whom his policies are hurting the most. The political loyalties of this part of Trump’s Maga (Make America Great Again) constituency are at odds with its economic interests.
It is hard to grasp, for example, why beleaguered American workers enthusiastically back deep reductions in federal spending on government services like Medicaid – on which many of their households depend – alongside massive tax cuts for those with the highest incomes. After all, economics relies on the assumption that people largely act in their rational self-interest.
When people vote against their economic interests, it is tempting to blame faulty or missing information. For example, a politician might mislead voters by ignoring their campaign promises once in office – or, in Trump’s case, promising the impossible, such as bringing down consumer prices or ending the Ukraine war on “day one” of his presidency.
