line of analysis flows from a bi-planar model of the political process where politicians appeal directly to voters. In this … relationship between candidates and voters. This meso level interjects such organizations as political parties between candidates … and voters, with those organizations comprising interest groups within a democratic process, as against serving simply as …

, consistent with theoretical predictions, when voters are ex ante heterogeneous in terms of the intensity of their preferences the …

collection of information. A problem with this rationale is that it takes for granted that representatives collect information … information about policy consequences. We show that the answer to this question depends on the cost of information collection …. More surprisingly, we find that endogenizing information may lead to divergence of policy platforms. …

population and the group average pre-tax income; (ii) the relative ideological neutrality of the poor, (iii) parties' and voters …