This excerpt originally appeared in The Economist on April 12, 2012.

The book Unequal Democracy by Larry Bartels is based around his analysis that Republican administrations have produced far worse economic outcomes for voters on average incomes than Democratic ones. He certainly has little ideologically in common with Bryan Caplan (author of The Myth of the Rational Voter) who despairs that ordinary voters fail to understand free markets. But his conclusion is similar; the views of voters don't add up.