The Effective Constituency in (Re)Distributive Politics

The Effective Constituency in (Re)Distributive Politics PDF Author: Robert J. Franzese
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Theorists have long argued that democratic policymakers respond to political pressures from their constituents. Although empirical work generally supports that broad contention, heterogeneity prevails both in theoretical work and empirically across country-times over exactly what comprises the constituency to which policymakers respond. We propose conceiving the potential bases of democratic representation as a continuum from the interests of the policymaker's geographic constituency, her electoral district, d, to those of her party's supporters, her partisan constituency, p. The effective constituency, c, to which democratic policymakers respond would then be some convex combination of these partisan and geographic extremes, with the partisan weight summarized by the degree to which parties are able to act as strategic units and receive their electoral support as units, i.e., of party unity, u. That is, heuristically, we conceptualize c=u*p+(1-u)*d. Re-examination of the familiar Weingast-Shepsle-Johnsen (WSJ) model of distributive politics and pork-barrel spending (the law of 1/n) motivates the analysis and undergirds empirical evaluation of our conception of the effective constituency. Postwar histories of public spending and distributive politics in developed democracies seem not to support a pure-electoral- district WSJ model, but postwar public spending in the United States, where data best-suited to evaluate the argument exist, does support a WSJ model as modified to reflect our conception of the effective constituency. We conclude with some ideas for extending the basic effective constituency notion beyond partisan and geographic bases of representation and for incorporating more explicitly and directly into empirical specification of public-policy models certain theoretical propositions that purport to explain aspects of the political-economic institutional, structural, and strategic context, such as the degree of party unity, that shape how policymakers allocate their efforts across public-good, redistributive, distributive, and rent-seeking activities. We consider several such arguments relating political-economic institutional, structural, and strategic contexts to the degree of party unity and of geographic versus partisan representation, and thereby to policymakers' weight on each type of policy activity, and show how to embed and test such arguments within estimable empirical models of public spending using the effective constituency concept.

The Effective Constituency in (Re)Distributive Politics

The Effective Constituency in (Re)Distributive Politics PDF Author: Robert J. Franzese
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Theorists have long argued that democratic policymakers respond to political pressures from their constituents. Although empirical work generally supports that broad contention, heterogeneity prevails both in theoretical work and empirically across country-times over exactly what comprises the constituency to which policymakers respond. We propose conceiving the potential bases of democratic representation as a continuum from the interests of the policymaker's geographic constituency, her electoral district, d, to those of her party's supporters, her partisan constituency, p. The effective constituency, c, to which democratic policymakers respond would then be some convex combination of these partisan and geographic extremes, with the partisan weight summarized by the degree to which parties are able to act as strategic units and receive their electoral support as units, i.e., of party unity, u. That is, heuristically, we conceptualize c=u*p+(1-u)*d. Re-examination of the familiar Weingast-Shepsle-Johnsen (WSJ) model of distributive politics and pork-barrel spending (the law of 1/n) motivates the analysis and undergirds empirical evaluation of our conception of the effective constituency. Postwar histories of public spending and distributive politics in developed democracies seem not to support a pure-electoral- district WSJ model, but postwar public spending in the United States, where data best-suited to evaluate the argument exist, does support a WSJ model as modified to reflect our conception of the effective constituency. We conclude with some ideas for extending the basic effective constituency notion beyond partisan and geographic bases of representation and for incorporating more explicitly and directly into empirical specification of public-policy models certain theoretical propositions that purport to explain aspects of the political-economic institutional, structural, and strategic context, such as the degree of party unity, that shape how policymakers allocate their efforts across public-good, redistributive, distributive, and rent-seeking activities. We consider several such arguments relating political-economic institutional, structural, and strategic contexts to the degree of party unity and of geographic versus partisan representation, and thereby to policymakers' weight on each type of policy activity, and show how to embed and test such arguments within estimable empirical models of public spending using the effective constituency concept.

Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism

Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism PDF Author: Susan C. Stokes
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107042208
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism studies distributive politics: how parties and governments use material resources to win elections. The authors develop a theory that explains why loyal supporters, rather than swing voters, tend to benefit from pork-barrel politics; why poverty encourages clientelism and vote buying; and why redistribution and voter participation do not justify non-programmatic distribution.

Distributive Politics in Developing Countries

Distributive Politics in Developing Countries PDF Author: Mark Baskin
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 073918069X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
This book explores the increasing use of Constituency Development Funds (CDFs) in emerging democratic governments in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Oceania. CDFs dedicate public money to benefit parliamentary constituencies through allocations and/or spending decisions influenced by Members of Parliament (MPs). The contributors employ the term CDF as a generic term although such funds have a different names, such as electoral development funds (Papua New Guinea), constituency development catalyst funds (Tanzania), or Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund (India), etc. In some ways, the funds resemble the ad hoc pork barrel policy-making employed in the U.S. Congress for the past 200 years. However, unlike earmarks, CDFs generally become institutionalized in the government’s annual budget and are distributed according to different criteria in each country. They enable MPs to influence programs in their constituencies that finance education, and build bridges, roads, community centers, clinics and schools. In this sense, a CDF is a politicized form of spending that can help fill in the important gaps in government services in constituencies that have not been addressed in the government’s larger, comprehensive policy programs. This first comprehensive treatment of CDFs in the academic and development literatures emerges from a project at the State University of New York Center for International Development. This project has explored CDFs in 19 countries and has developed indicators on their emergence, operations, and oversight. The contributors provide detailed case studies of the emergence and operations of CDFs in Kenya, Uganda, Jamaica, and India, as well as an analysis of earmarks in the U.S. Congress, and a broader analysis of the emergence of the funds in Africa. They cover the emergence, institutionalization, and accountability of these funds; analyze key issues in their operations; and offer provisional conclusions of what the emergence and operations of these funds say about the democratization of politics in developing countries and current approaches to international support for democratic governance in developing countries.

Clients and Constituents

Clients and Constituents PDF Author: Jennifer Bussell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190945427
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Scholars of distributive politics often emphasize partisanship and clientelism. However, as Jennifer Bussell demonstrates in Clients and Constituents, legislators in "patronage democracies" also provide substantial constituency service: non-contingent, direct assistance to individual citizens. Bussell shows how the uneven character of access to services at the local level-often due to biased allocation on the part of local intermediaries-generates demand for help from higher-level officials. The nature of these appeals in turn provides incentives for politicians to help their constituents obtain public benefits. Drawing on a new cross-national dataset and extensive evidence from India-including sustained qualitative shadowing of politicians, novel elite and citizen surveys, and an experimental audit study with a near census of Indian state and national legislators-this book provides a theoretical and empirical examination of political responsiveness in developing countries. It highlights the potential for an under-appreciated form of democratic accountability, one that is however rooted in the character of patronage-based politics.

The Politics of Place and the Limits of Redistribution

The Politics of Place and the Limits of Redistribution PDF Author: Melissa Ziegler Rogers
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135936021
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Numerous scholars have noticed that certain political institutions, including federalism, majoritarian electoral systems, and presidentialism, are linked to lower levels of income redistribution. This book offers a political geography explanation for those observed patterns. Each of these institutions is strongly shaped by geography and provides incentives for politicians to target their appeals and government resources to localities. Territorialized institutions also shape citizens’ preferences in ways that can undermine the national coalition in favor of redistribution. Moreover, territorial institutions increase the number of veto points in which anti-redistributive actors can constrain reform efforts. These theoretical connections between the politics of place and redistributive outcomes are explored in theory, empirical analysis, and case studies of the USA, Germany, and Argentina.

The Political Logic of Poverty Relief

The Political Logic of Poverty Relief PDF Author: Alberto Diaz-Cayeros
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107140285
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
The Political Logic of Poverty Relief places electoral politics and institutional design at the core of poverty alleviation. The authors develop a theory with applications to Mexico about how elections shape social programs aimed at aiding the poor. They also assess whether voters reward politicians for targeted poverty alleviation programs.

Politics in Taiwan

Politics in Taiwan PDF Author: Shelley Rigger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113469296X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book shows that Taiwan, unlike other countries, avoided serious economic disruption and social conflict, and arrived at its goal of multi-party competition with little blood shed. Nonetheless, this survey reveals that for those who imagine democracy to be the panacea for every social, economic and political ill, Taiwan's continuing struggles against corruption, isolation and division offer a cautionary lesson. This book is an ideal, one-stop resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students of political science, particuarly those interested in the international politics of China, and the Asia-Pacific.

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics PDF Author: Carles Boix
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks Online
ISBN: 0199278482
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1035

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science is a ten-volume set of reference books offering authoritative and engaging critical overviews of the state of political science. Each volume focuses on a particular part of the discipline, with volumes on Public Policy, Political Theory, Political Economy, Contextual Political Analysis, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Law and Politics, Political Behavior, Political Institutions, and Political Methodology. The project as a whole is under the General Editorship of Robert E. Goodin, with each volume being edited by a distinguished international group of specialists in their respective fields. The books set out not just to report on the discipline, but to shape it. The series will be an indispensable point of reference for anyone working in political science and adjacent disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics offers a critical survey of the field of empirical political science through the collection of a set of chapters written by forty-seven top scholars in the discipline of comparative politics. Part I includes chapters surveying the key research methodologies employed in comparative politics (the comparative method; the use of history; the practice and status of case-study research; the contributions of field research) and assessing the possibility of constructing a science of comparative politics. Parts II to IV examine the foundations of political order: the origins of states and the extent to which they relate to war and to economic development; the sources of compliance or political obligation among citizens; democratic transitions, the role of civic culture; authoritarianism; revolutions; civil wars and contentious politics. Parts V and VI explore the mobilization, representation and coordination of political demands. Part V considers why parties emerge, the forms they take and the ways in which voters choose parties. It then includes chapters on collective action, social movements and political participation. Part VI opens up with essays on the mechanisms through which political demands are aggregated and coordinated. This sets the agenda to the systematic exploration of the workings and effects of particular institutions: electoral systems, federalism, legislative-executive relationships, the judiciary and bureaucracy. Finally, Part VII is organized around the burgeoning literature on macropolitical economy of the last two decades.

The Politics of Resentment

The Politics of Resentment PDF Author: Katherine J. Cramer
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022634925X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
“An important contribution to the literature on contemporary American politics. Both methodologically and substantively, it breaks new ground.” —Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare When Scott Walker was elected Governor of Wisconsin, the state became the focus of debate about the appropriate role of government. In a time of rising inequality, Walker not only survived a bitterly contested recall, he was subsequently reelected. But why were the very people who would benefit from strong government services so vehemently against the idea of big government? With The Politics of Resentment, Katherine J. Cramer uncovers an oft-overlooked piece of the puzzle: rural political consciousness and the resentment of the “liberal elite.” Rural voters are distrustful that politicians will respect the distinct values of their communities and allocate a fair share of resources. What can look like disagreements about basic political principles are therefore actually rooted in something even more fundamental: who we are as people and how closely a candidate’s social identity matches our own. Taking a deep dive into Wisconsin’s political climate, Cramer illuminates the contours of rural consciousness, showing how place-based identities profoundly influence how people understand politics. The Politics of Resentment shows that rural resentment—no less than partisanship, race, or class—plays a major role in dividing America against itself.

Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences

Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences PDF Author: Bernard Grofman
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 0875862675
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
..." a usful volume on the impact of electoral laws...includes a very good bibliography and index...establishes a broader international and interdisciplinary perspective on the methods of representation." - American Political Science Review