Publication

This paper discusses problems with the median voter theorem, which predicts more downward redistribution than can be witnessed in capitalist democracies. The author draws three implications. Firstly, to understand distributive outcomes, a lot more about the structure and intensity of mass preferences must be known. Secondly, similar knowledge is needed to pick a viable strategy in order to shape distributive outcomes. Finally, it may be that the intensity of mass preferences on some distributive questions is variable.