Jane Mansbridge, professor at Harvard In-the-can INTRO: Today is election day, and millions of Americans will be going to the polls, but millions of other Americans will not. For years, political scientists have tried to figure out what motivates people to vote. One school of thought suggests that voting is a fundamentally irrational act because any single vote wont change the outcome of an election. Jane Mansbridge is a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She says making the decision to vote can be a complicated process.