Median Voter Theory
Median Voter Theory (MVT), in the most basic understanding, is considered to be the “Majority rule voting system.” In the system of a majority rule, a candidate must obtain the majority of the voter’s votes i.e. the majority of the votes plus one (Williams pg. 208). To fully understand the concept of MVT and build a more descriptive framework one must assume two suppositions: (1) all voters are equally and gradually distributed on a one-dimensional line traveling from left to right (Hotelling, 1929, pg 43), and (2) the voter’s choices and positions i.e. the candidates are also plotted to the same gradual one-dimensional left to right line (Hotelling, 1929 pg 43). Additionally, the median term refers to how the candidates …show more content…
A famous example in MVT explanations (Congleton, 2004, pg 2) is the restaurant choice between three people. Allen, Betty, and Chad friends want to eat out for lunch but have three different preferences. When polling amongst themselves on where to eat, each person has a different preferences as to how much to spend. Allen wants to have lunch at the local fast-food restaurant with pricing around $5.00, Betty wants to eat at the local tavern where food pricing is around $10.00 and Chad wants have lunch at the local fine dining restaurant where the pricing is $20.00 a plate. In this explanation, used in Conglenton’s 2004 The Median Voter Report, Betty is considered to be the median voter as her lunch choice is between the other two options. As when the other two friends are forced to make a decision, they are more likely to prefer Betty’s option as since it is the choice closest to their preference. To further illustrate the notion, a recreated table of Roger Congleton’s (2004, pg 2) of voter options, patterns of voter’s votes, and voting results is listed …show more content…
The median voter is lacking the consistency of competing theoretical or statistical models. Additionally, it is hard to pin-point if the median voter is the pivotal actor or if there is a different fractile that causes the shift in results. As Romar states in his article The Elusive Median Voter (1979, pg 143), written for the Journal of Public Economics, “The economic studies suggest that expenditures depend not only on the preferences of voters but also on the structure of political