Although politicians' personal attributes are an important component of elections and representation, few studies have rigorously investigated which attributes are most relevant in shaping voters' preferences for politicians, or whether these preferences vary across different electoral system...

Although pre-electoral political manipulation of the budget --- the political budget cycle (PBC) --- has been long investigated by scholars, empirical findings are mixed at best. This is partly because of the non-random nature of election timing. There also exist ongoing debates over how the...