Calculus of voting


Calculus of voting refers to any mathematical model which predicts voting behaviour by an electorate, including such features as participation rate. A calculus of voting represents a hypothesized decision-making process.
These models are used in political science in an attempt to capture the relative importance of various factors influencing an elector to vote in a particular way.

Example

One such model was proposed by Anthony Downs and is adapted by William H. Riker and Peter Ordeshook, in “A Theory of the Calculus of Voting”
where
A political science model based on rational choice used to explain why citizens do or do not vote.
The alternative equation is
Where for voting to occur the robability the vote will matter "times" the enefit of one candidate winning over another combined with the feeling of civic uty, must be greater than the ost of voting