We study electoral competition among politicians who are heterogeneous both in competence and in how much they care … politicians may have stronger incentives to behave opportunistically if other politicians are more likely to behave … politicians’ incentives to behave opportunistically increase with politicians’ pay and with polarization of policy preferences. …

We develop a simple two period model to study the importance of motivational differences among politicians in … describing the role of elections and explaining policy choices. In our model, politicians differ in their motives of running … public office. Good politicians care about policies while bad politicians care about rent extraction. Voters want to control …

Politicians differ in their ability to implement some policy. In an election, candidates make commitments regarding the …

Democracies delegate substantial decision power to politicians. Using a model in which an incumbent can design, examine …. Elections are needed as a carrot and a stick to motivate politicians, yet politicians who are overly interested in re …