His research focuses included political choice theory, rent control, affordable housing, and transportation economics.
He wrote a number of books including, An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957) and Inside Bureaucracy (1967), which have been major influences on the public choice school of political economy.
He quit the service after three years to join his father's consulting firm and also briefly served as a member of the faculty at the University of Chicago.
[7] He claimed that most voters have incomplete information when voting for political candidates in a democracy, and therefore will resort to economic issues of "how much government intervention in the economy there should be" and how parties will control this.
Downs borrowed the curve from Harold Hotelling, who developed it to explain how grocery stores targeted customers.
His left–right axis model has been integrated into the median voter theory first articulated by Duncan Black.
Downs showed that in democracies the aggregate distribution of political opinion forms a bell-shaped curve, with most voters possessing moderate opinions; he argued that this fact forces political parties in democracies to adopt centrist positions.
This law states that on urban commuter expressways, peak-hour traffic congestion rises to meet maximum capacity.
However, enough of his gloomy predictions about congestion were proven correct that he successfully published a second edition, Still Stuck in Traffic (2004).
[13][14] Downs's recommendations are starting to see implementation, largely in the form of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in the medians of crowded American freeways, and through congestion pricing, already implemented in several cities around the world: Singapore[15] (see Area Licensing Scheme and Electronic Road Pricing); London (see London congestion charge); Stockholm (see Stockholm congestion tax); Valletta, Malta;[16][17] and Milan, Italy.
His most influential books are An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957) and Inside Bureaucracy (1967); widely translated, both are credited as major influences on the public choice school of political economy.