This paper surveys the literature on the most fundamental institution in a democracy: the appointment of the policymakers through democratic elections. Elections perform at least three different functions: (i) to discipline the elected officials by the threat of not being reappointed; (ii) to select competent individuals for public office; and (iii) to aggregate and represent the voters' conflicting preferences. We also review the literature on political business cycles. The essay is not meant to be just a review of what has been done in the past, although that is part of the motivation and development. Rather, it is meant to describe a series of productive and useful lines of research, lines that are likely to expand our understanding of the underlying political and economic behavior.
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Paper provided by Centro de Estudios Monetarios Y Financieros- in its series Papers with number
9809.
Length: 62 pages Date of creation: 1998 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:fth:cemfdt:9809
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Models of Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
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