 This was assessed in detail by Anthony Downs who concluded that voters were acting on thoughts of higher income as a person ‘votes for whatever party he believes would provide him with the highest utility income from government action’.This is a significant simplification of how the theory influences people's thoughts but makes up a core part of rational theory as a whole.In a more complex fashion, voters will react often radically in times of real economic strife, which can lead to an increase in extremism.