For far too long, the accepted wisdom among scholars of politics has been that the interests of the individual and the interests of society are not in harmony when it comes to voting. Rationally, an independent action that carries no instrumental value for the person who acts is essentially foolish. However, two facts are missing from this classical view: that elections are ultimately cooperative ventures, and that the rationality of participating in them depends on more than an individual-level cost-benefit analysis of the effort involved in each pull of a voting-machine lever or crossing of a ballot paper. In the context of elections, the collective endeavour is the creation of a just government, and the costs involved in making individual contributions towards this goal are minimal. The above argument seeks to establish that
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer: (C)
Reasoning:
• The passage challenges the traditional view that voting is an irrational act based purely on an individual's personal cost-benefit analysis.
• It highlights that elections are cooperative efforts aimed at the collective goal of forming a just government.
• Therefore, the central claim of the argument is that voting should be seen as a collective contribution toward establishing a just government rather than an individual cost-benefit decision.