Why do you vote? Is it because you think your vote matters--i.e. your single vote will decide the election? While large groups of votes can sway electoral outcomes, it is incredibly unlikely that a single vote will. Combine that with the fact that voting is costly, it does not make sense for individuals to vote for purely instrumental reasons. However, this creates a paradox of voting: if voting does not make sense, why do millions of people do it in every election? This video further details the paradox of voting and offers a few explanations as to why people vote anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbkIbIZehMM
