Party choice based on economic interest

The different factors behind why people vote as they do have been researched for a very long time. Ever since Anthony Downs revolutionary book An economic theory for democracy from 1957. Researchers have found different methods and models to explain voting behavior. One of these models is the rational choice model for voting which has been preferred amongst scientist since it gives a solid foundation to research people as equals. This Essay aimed to use rational choice as the model on peoples economic voting through the lens of their socio economic status. The method used in the essay was a data analysis of the Survey from 2010 by Valforskningsprogrammet in Gothenburg where 3963 people participated. With the help of statistics program variables within this essay was chosen and applied in a cross tabulation, regression-analysis and korrelation analysis. The results found that very little of people voting behavior correlated with their socio economic background and the majority did not vote rational according to the theory. Even though there was a small correlation confirmed it was not strong enough to warrant rational choice as the definitive voting behavioral model