Originally published on Sept. 20, 2019.

This story is part of Day 6's Democracy Divided series. Each instalment takes a close look at the health of the democratic system in Canada leading up to the Oct. 21 federal election.

In an era of attack ads and political memes, plenty of Canadian voters may be longing for more substance on the campaign trail — but we aren't necessarily wired for it.

Instead, voters tend to engage with elections the same way they engage with football games, says economist Eyal Winter.

In a study, he found that sports fans would sooner watch a match between two equally skilled teams.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he also found they prefer watching a game when all bets are on their favourite team to win.

"Same applies to voting behaviour," said Winter, a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality. "If you have a close poll before the election, it drives people to go to vote. People are inclined more to vote when they're expecting their party to be the winner."

"This gives them some sort of feeling that they are sharing the success of the party. They have a stake in what happens."

Winter calls it "expressive voting." When casting a ballot, voters are more often driven by emotions rather than reason, and tribalism rather than self-interest.

According to Winter, voters themselves are one of the biggest flaws in our democracy — and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

Download our podcast or click Listen above to hear the full interview with Eyal Winter.