A voter may prefer a minor-party candidate but choose a viable major-party candidate to reduce the chance of the least-preferred result. A runoff or ranked-choice rule could change that cost. Participation itself can be analyzed through time, information, and access costs alongside civic duty, habit, social approval, and expressive benefit. One citizen can use all three models: punish past failure, compare future plans, and choose the viable package with the greatest expected value. The stem's evidence, not the final candidate choice, identifies the reasoning.

Video lesson: Election Basics: Crash Course Government and Politics #36