Homo Economicus does not vote. That is, on an individual level, voting is not a rational activity.

Look at it this way - let's say it takes you 15 minutes to drive to your polling place, 30 minutes to vote, and Lord knows how many hours to figure out which candidates you should even vote for. And what is the value of a single vote? Specifically, what is the chance that a single vote will change an election? Almost zero.

Ergo, at the individual level, the effort of participating in the electoral process does not appear to be a rational choice.