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Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians’ Decisions

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  • Laurent Bouton
  • Paola Conconi
  • Francisco Pino
  • Maurizio Zanardi

Abstract

We study how electoral incentives a.ect policy choices on secondary issues, which only minorities of voters care intensely about. We develop a model in which o.ce and policy motivated politicians choose to support or oppose regulations on these issues. We derive conditions under which politicians .ip-.op, voting according to their policy preferences at the beginning of their terms, but in line with the preferences of single-issue minorities as they approach re-election. To assess the evidence, we study U.S. senators’ votes on gun control, environment, and reproductive rights. In line with our model’s predictions, election proximity has a pro-gun e.ect on Democratic senators and a pro-environment e.ect on Republican senators. These e.ects only arise for non-retiring senators, who represent states where the single-issue minority is of intermediate size. Also in line with our theory, election proximity has no impact on senators’ decisions on reproductive rights, because of the presence of single-issue minorities on both sides.

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  • Laurent Bouton & Paola Conconi & Francisco Pino & Maurizio Zanardi, 2018. "Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians’ Decisions," Working Papers ECARES 2018-07, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/268793
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Electoral Incentives; Environnent; Gun Control; Reproductive Rights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • K38 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Human Rights Law; Gender Law; Animal Rights Law
    • Q00 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - General

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