theFutonPoncho

In an early story we explained the system of caucusing in Iowa. Of particular interest is the system the Democratic Party uses for the selection process. There is no secret ballot, and a show of hands or standing in a particular area is the way the Democratic votes are tallied. Republican tallies in the Iowa caucuses are still done by secret ballot.

Detractors of this “stand-your-ground” voting system have noted that social and peer pressure can have a prejudicial effect on the outcome of the vote. Stephen Levitt, author of the excellent book Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything wrote a working paper available at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In it, Mr. Levitt used statistics from the (more…)