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Pandering, Faith and Electoral Competition

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  • Gabriele Gratton

    (School of Economics, The University of New South Wales)

Abstract

This paper investigates a common criticism of competitive elections: candidates pander to voters and choose the most popular platform, regardless of it being optimal for the voters. I study an election with two perfectly informed candidates. Voters share common values over the policy outcome of the election, but possess arbitrarily little information about which policy is best for them. Voters elect one of the candidates, effectively choosing between the two policies proposed by the candidates. The model is extended to include strategic voting, policy-motivated or imperfectly informed candidates, and heterogeneous preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriele Gratton, 2011. "Pandering, Faith and Electoral Competition," Discussion Papers 2012-22, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    • Handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2012-22
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    File URL: http://research.economics.unsw.edu.au/RePEc/papers/2012-22.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    pandering; information aggregation; elections; Downsian candidates.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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