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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Does The Individual Mandate Force Individuals To Buy Insurance?, Raphael Boleslavsky, Sergio J. Campos
Does The Individual Mandate Force Individuals To Buy Insurance?, Raphael Boleslavsky, Sergio J. Campos
Raphael Boleslavsky
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains provisions which penalize individuals for failing to purchase health insurance. These provisions are commonly known as the "individual mandate." Both critics and supporters believe that the individual mandate forces individuals to buy health insurance, but supporters argue that this coercion is necessary. This term, the Supreme Court will address the constitutionality of the mandate, and this legal issue has sparked debate about the government's power to force individuals to purchase a private good. In this Essay we question the consensus that the individual mandate forces individuals to pay for health insurance. Using …
Information And Extremism In Elections, Raphael Boleslavsky, Christopher Cotton
Information And Extremism In Elections, Raphael Boleslavsky, Christopher Cotton
Raphael Boleslavsky
We show that informative political campaigns can increase political extremism and decrease voter welfare. We present a model of elections in which candidate ideology is strategically selected prior to a campaign which reveals information about candidate quality. Documented means by which campaigns can harm voters are not present in our model; special interest groups, fundraising, and biased or private information are not part of the analysis. Even under these optimistic assumptions, we establish that informative campaigns have negative consequences. We discuss implications regarding media coverage, the number of debates, and campaign finance reform.