EXAMPLE 5 Wind Farm Location: NIMBY (Not In My backyard)

Up to this point, we assumed that a voter would vote for a candidate whose policy position was closest to the voter’s ideal position. In the following example, assume that the election is to determine the location of a wind farm off a coastline—a left-right continuum. Although many voters appreciate that a wind farm generates clean energy, voters do not want to have the wind farm ruin their views. That is, numerous voters may prefer a wind farm but don’t want it to be built “in their backyard.”

There may be other reasons not to support a wind farm. Indeed, a plan to install a wind farm of 170 wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, split normally similarly spirited organizations into camps for and against the proposal. For example, the Humane Society, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., were against the placement of a wind farm off of Cape Cod because the wind turbines can be harmful to animals. However, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Greenpeace supported the wind farm.

Suppose that the 15 voters who live along the coast of a small island determine the placement of a wind farm. Like the child-care funding example (Example 3 on page 509), the voters have positions on a left-right continuum from 0 to 100. A voter’s ideal point could represent his or her house and the preference that the wind farm be as far away as possible so that it does not ruin the ocean view. Hence, for this example, voters vote for the location that is farthest away from their ideal points.

Let the 15 voters live at the following positions: 10, 15, 20, 25, 40, 45, 50, 55, 55, 55, 60, 75, 80, 85, and 95, as depicted in Figure 12.2. Assume that there are two proposals for the location of the wind farm: one at 30 and the other at 65. Voters with residences closer to position 30 vote for the wind farm to be built at 65. Similarly, voters with residences closer to position 65 vote for the wind farm to be built at 30. Even though voters now prefer the location or policy position that is farthest from their ideal points, the midpoint still plays a central role. The midpoint between 30 and 65 is . Voters who reside at locations less than 47.5 are closer to location 30. These 6 voters vote for the wind farm to be built at location 65. The other 9 voters reside at locations greater than 47.5 and are closer to 65. They vote for the wind farm to be built at location 30. Because more voters are closer to location 65 than to location 30, the wind farm will be built at location 30.