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Do Incompetent Politicians Breed Populist Voters? Evidence from Italian Municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • Federico Boffa
  • Vincenzo Mollisi
  • Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto

Abstract

Poor performance by the established political class can drive voters towards anti-establishment outsiders. Is the ineffectiveness of incumbent politicians an important driver of the recent rise of populist parties? We provide an empirical test exploiting a sharp discontinuity in the wage of local politicians as a function of population in Italian municipalities. We find that the more skilled local politicians and more effective local government in municipalities above the threshold cause a significant drop in voter support for the populist Five-Star Movement in regional and national elections. Support for incumbent governing parties increases instead.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Boffa & Vincenzo Mollisi & Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto, 2023. "Do Incompetent Politicians Breed Populist Voters? Evidence from Italian Municipalities," Working Papers 1388, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:1388
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    Cited by:

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    2. Massimo Bordignon & Federico Franzoni & Matteo Gamalerio, 2023. "Is Populism reversible? Evidence from Italian local elections during the pandemic," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def124, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    populism; government efficiency; politician quality; political agency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H70 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - General

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