The incentive version relies on the fact that politicians want to get elected and reelected. To get elected they have to support the policies that a majority of the voters want; to get elected again, they have to actually work for those policies. Hence, it is argued, it is in the interest of politicians to do what the voters want them to do, whatever the private beliefs and objectives (other than election) of the politicians may be. The selection model relies on the facts that people differ and that we have some ability to tell what other people are like. Some candidates are good people who want good things; if the voters can identify the good politicians they can elect them and rely on the benevolent desires of those politicians to motivate them to do the right thing. Some candidates are not only good people but smart and hard working, hence likely to take the acts that produce those good things. The two models have different requirements and different implications. For the...
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