Majority Voting Rule (Cont’d)

Three factors that determine an individual’s attitudes toward public-goods expenditures:
1. Some may like public goods more than others.
2. Individuals’ incomes may differ. Poor individuals may have a higher marginal utility of private goods than others.
3. Nature of tax system.
Median voter controls majority voting:
1. The majority voting equilibrium level of expenditures is the level that is most preferred by the median voter.
2. Equilibrium for public goods is either inefficient or non-existent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Choice_and_Individual_Values