Bounded rationality and voting decisions over 160 years: voter behavior and increasing complexity in decision-making

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 31;8(12):e84078. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084078. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Using a quasi-natural voting experiment encompassing a 160-year period (1848-2009) in Switzerland, we investigate whether a higher level of complexity leads to increased reliance on trusted parliamentary representatives. We find that when more referenda are held on the same day, constituents are more likely to refer to parliamentary recommendations when making their decisions. This finding holds true even when we narrow our focus to referenda with a relatively lower voter turnout on days on which more than one referendum is held. We also demonstrate that when constituents face a higher level of complexity, they follow the parliamentary recommendations rather than those of interest groups. "Viewed as a geometric figure, the ant's path is irregular, complex, hard to describe. But its complexity is really a complexity in the surface of the beach, not a complexity in the ant." ( [1] p. 51).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Choice Behavior*
  • Decision Making*
  • Expert Systems*
  • Humans
  • Models, Psychological*
  • Politics*
  • Switzerland
  • Time Factors

Grants and funding

This publication was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the University of Bayreuth in the funding programme Open Access Publishing. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Australian Research Council (FT110100463). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.