This paper studies the effects of power-concentrating institutions on the quality of political selection, i.e., the … arises. We find that power-concentrating institutions amplify this selection problem as they increase electoral stakes and … thus the incentives for mimicking. However, they also allocate more political power to the voters' preferred candidate. As …

This paper studies the effects of power-concentrating institutions on the quality of political selection, i.e., the … abilities and are driven by office rents as well as welfare considerations. We show that variations in power concentration … involve a trade-off. On the one hand, higher concentration of power enables the voters' preferred politician to enforce larger …