<DIV>Anthony Downs's <i>An Economic Theory of Democracy</i> is one of the handful of books that reshaped political science in the post-World War II period. <i>Information, Participation, and Choice</i> traces the influence of Downs's ideas on subsequent research on voters, candidates, and parties in the United States and elsewhere.<br></div><DIV>Since their publication in 1957, Downs's seminal ideas -- tweedledum and tweedledee politics and the "rationality" of political ignorance and nonparticipation on the part of voters--have shaped an ongoing debate about how politics actually work. The debate pits a public-choice model inspired by microeconomic precepts against a traditional textbook model that presumes a responsible, informed, and civic-minded citizenry and a set of elected officials motivated by concern for the public interest and policy convictions.<br></div><DIV>The essays comprising <i>Information, Participation, and Choice</i>, by leading political scientists and economists, provide both a summary of Downs's key theoretical insights and an empirical examination of how well models inspired by Downs accurately describe U.S. political competition for Congress and the presidency.<br></div><DIV>Bernard Grofman is Professor of Political Science and Social Psychology, University of California, Irvine.<br></div>