Altruism Theory in Voting

The Altruism Theory of Voting Behavior of James H. Fowler is a model which states that citizens who
belong to a democratic country possessed a socially-based preference for the good and welfare of
the others[ CITATION Fow06 \l 13321 ] . In his idea, the condition and well-being of the community
contributes to an individual’s voting preferences. It proposes that an individual or single voter can
simply derive a personal utility from influencing or affecting the outcome of election favoring to the
political candidate that they consider or believe to have the capacity to implement policies that will
lead to the betterment of the entire community. In applying the theory to the study of the voting
preferences of the registered BEC member of the Santisimo Rosario Parish, the researchers wanted
to prove that the members highly consider their welfare in the community they are belong to in
choosing a senatorial candidate. These members as part of a religious organizations believes to be
altruistic citizens because of the values they imbibed in the social teachings of the Catholic Church.

In this theory, registered voters work and behave altruistically through riveting the value of voting for
them to provide the benefits that their community deserve through simply analyzing the projects and
policies proposed by any political candidates. Also, it expresses the notion that if a vote is based on
the selfish or self-interest centered preference and the social preference, the social preference will
lead and make it rational for a simple person to vote even in large elections. Moreover, it exhibits the
feedback mechanism that alleviates turnout at realistic levels through the rational socially-motivated
voting. This altruistic preference of a voter surpassed selfish predisposition and motivates a stable
voter turnout that thoroughly reflects democracy.

References
Fowler, J. H. (2006). Altruism and Turnout. The Journal of Politics, p. 674 - 683.

The Theory of Reasoned Action of Fisbein and Ajzen during 1967, the Social Identity Theory of
Brewer during 2001 and the Altruism Theory in Voting of Fowler during 2006 will help the study
determine the behaviors of the voting preference of an individual as being part of a community or a
group. Through the help of these theories, the researches will identify the factors that contributed to
the preferences of the members of the registered BEC members of the Santisimo Rosario Parish,
especially their knowledge, values, attitudes and behaviors since the organization provides a strong
foundation of social teachings. Also, the researchers will be able to observe the transition of the
voting preference of the members through observing their possessed personal preference or interest
to a political candidate and how it will transform into a preference as part of a group.