The essays in this collection are central to the modern canon in political economy. These ten articles and an introduction respond to two broad questions: How does government work? How do voters and their elected representatives make decisions? Sam Peltzman responds to the media's negative portrayal of the cynical political atmosphere in America, suggesting the electorate really does make well-informed decisions and elected officials actually do tend to vote according to their constituents' interests. These conclusions bear the stamp of the Chicago approach to political economy (which applies microeconomic principles to political phenomena), an approach that has had considerable success explaining why certain government policies have not achieved their intended effects.