Low voter turnout is a bad thing. Let’s get that out of the way immediately. … As a matter of principle, we would want everyone to vote, and to do so in an informed and reasoned way.
But one type of nonvoter provides a silver lining in this otherwise gloomy state of affairs. These people, whom I call sporadic voters, don’t apathetically sit out all elections. They fail to go to the polls sometimes but do go at other times, presumably when they perceive the stakes to be high. And unlike apathetic nonvoters who undermine democracy, sporadic voters may actually bolster it. In fact, recent behavioral research suggests that this group may provide a reservoir of neutrality that can help keep democracy from going astray. CONT.
Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard), New York Times