caa a22 4500 386342776 CHVBK 20180307111759.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e198903 xx s 000 0 eng 10.2307/1956438 doi S0003055400082290 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.2307/1956438 The Nature of Utility Functions in Mass Publics [Elektronische Daten] Survey data are used to test the basic tenets of rational choice theory. We find that (1) voters' preferences are orderly but voters do not always have preferences. When the perceived difference between two candidates is below some threshold, voters are indifferent between them. (2) Most voters choose candidates whose issue positions are congruent with their own. (3) Lack of knowledge about candidates affects choice and utility through two routes—indifference and risk aversion. Most voters have highly structured utility functions, but the thresholds and risk aversion in these functions place relatively unknown candidates at a disadvantage in presidential primaries and other electoral situations. Moreover, the importance of knowledge in these functions suggests that social choice theorists must take seriously the classic concerns of public opinion research—the operation of the media and the dynamics of information in elections. Copyright © American Political Science Association 1989 Brady Henry E. University of Chicago Ansolabehere Stephen Harvard University American Political Science Review Cambridge University Press 83/1(1989-03), 143-163 0003-0554 83:1<143 1989 83 PSR https://doi.org/10.2307/1956438 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.2307/1956438 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Brady Henry E. University of Chicago NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ansolabehere Stephen Harvard University NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- American Political Science Review Cambridge University Press 83/1(1989-03), 143-163 0003-0554 83:1<143 1989 83 PSR CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge