This paper develops an approach to political equilibrium in a two-party setting. The approach characterizes political resource allocationas trading o¤ the utility of core party supporters and swing voters,i.e. those who are not attached to either party. The model has threestages. First parties...

A key issue in political economy concerns the accountability structures put in place to select public officials. While the principle that legislators are to be elected is now a defining feature of modern democracies, there are some offices where a plurality of selection methods survive. A key...

We present a simple theory of the quality (competence and honesty) of elected officials. Our theoryoffers three main insights. Low-quality citizens have a ‘comparative advantage’ in pursuing electiveoffice, because their market wages are lower than those of high-quality citizens...

Why is social exclusion a problem? What about ‘voluntary’ social exclusion –when an individual chooses to exclude him or herself from the wider society?Brain Barry has addressed these questions in a recent CASE book, arguing thatsocial exclusion, voluntary or involuntary, offends against...

This bold, imaginative book advances an entirely new theory of voters’ behavior.The starting point for this theory is that individuals are endowed with a set of beliefs, ora worldview, and derive psychological benefits from acting in accordance with these beliefs.However, the beliefs of most...