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Electoral Accountability and Responsive Democracy

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  • John Duggan
  • César Martinelli

Abstract

We consider elections with hidden preferences and hidden actions, in which neither voters nor politicians can commit to future choices. When politicians are highly office motivated, they respond by choosing high policies to signal that they are above average, and some below-average politicians must randomise between choosing policies near their ideal points and mimicking above-average politicians by choosing high policies. If voter preferences are increasing, then elections deliver positive outcomes; but if voter preferences are single peaked, then politicians overshoot in the first period. Electoral incentives shift to sanctioning, rather than selection, as office motivation becomes large.

Suggested Citation

  • John Duggan & César Martinelli, 2020. "Electoral Accountability and Responsive Democracy," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(627), pages 675-715.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:130:y:2020:i:627:p:675-715.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/uez070
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    Cited by:

    1. Duggan, John & Forand, Jean Guillaume, 2025. "Accountability in Markovian elections," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 183-217.
    2. Cesar Martinelli & Thomas R. Palfrey, 2017. "Communication and Information in Games of Collective Decision: A Survey of Experimental Results," Working Papers 1065, George Mason University, Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science.
    3. Guido Merzoni & Federico Trombetta, 2021. "A Note on Asymmetric Policies: Pandering and State-specific Costs of Mismatch in Political Agency," DISEIS - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo dis2102, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo (DISEIS).
    4. Cesar Martinelli, 2022. "Accountability and Grand Corruption," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 645-679, November.
    5. Duggan, John, 2017. "Term limits and bounds on policy responsiveness in dynamic elections," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 426-463.
    6. Merzoni, Guido & Trombetta, Federico, 2022. "Pandering and state-specific costs of mismatch in political agency," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 132-143.
    7. S. Borağan Aruoba & Allan Drazen & Razvan Vlaicu, 2019. "A Structural Model Of Electoral Accountability," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(2), pages 517-545, May.
    8. Hao Hong & Tsz-Ning Wong, 2020. "Authoritarian election as an incentive scheme," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 32(3), pages 460-493, July.
    9. Vincent Anesi & Peter Buisseret, 2023. "Collective screening," Discussion Papers 2023-01, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).

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