In the town of New Era, Mary, Scott, and Fredo are all running for the same spot on the village council. New Era residents care only about infrastructure improvements; they know everything about the candidates' positions on that issue but know nothing about their positions on policing. Which of the following assumptions of the median voter model is being violated?

A) voter rationality

B) the existence of only two candidates

C) single-dimensional voting

D) full information

B) the existence of only two candidates

Explanation:

Thee median voter theorem only considers voting choices along a single dimension, e. g. yes/no, candidate A/candidate B. This theory is based on the premise that median voters are those whose voting peak is at the median and voting equilibrium can be achieved when one majority wins against another alternative.

Theoretically, all that the government must do is find a voter whose preferences for public policies are in the middle of the normal distribution of voting preferences and carry out the policies preferred by that voter.

But when the alternatives are more than yes/no, then the preferences will not be normally distributed.