On November 7th, 2006, American voters will go to the polls for the mid-term elections. There is already plenty of controversy whirling over the prospect of rigged voting machines, vote fraud, and disenfranchisement. Yet little worry is reserved for what may be a much more serious problem: the competence, or lack thereof, of the American voter. There is a large body of research on the troubling ignorance of voters on issues and the policy stances of candidates. But could the problem be even worse than ignorance? What if voters are simply irrational and register their votes on the basis of unreasoned emotion, prejudice, and wishful thinking? Are voters irrational? If they are, can we expect democracy to select representatives and policies that give effect to the people's desires and values?

In the November Cato Unbound, "Majority Fools? Irrationality and the Limits of Democracy," George Mason University economist Bryan Caplan, author of the forthcoming book The Myth of the Rational Voter, will argue that we can't count on voters to make rational decisions, and will explain what that means for democracy. Commenting on Caplan's controversial argument will be three leading experts on democracy and democratic ideals: Brown University philosopher David Estlund, political theorist and Critical Review editor Jeffrey Friedman, and University of Virginia philosopher Loren Lomasky. Expect a provocative exchange on the purposes, ideals, and limits of democratic choice.

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• Politics & Social Sciences

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