From the viewpoint of Public Choice theory, the logic of electoral competition makes it difficult for rational, self …-interested politicians to advance unpopular reforms. As political decision-makers have primarily the aim of re-election in mind …

We examine whether voters rewarded conservative politicians who were voting in favor of same-sex marriage. Data is … September 2017. The results show that the vote share of conservative politicians who voted in favor of same-sex marriage was … share of conservative politicians who did not vote in favor of same-sex marriage. Voters were seeking for outcomes other …

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 …

paramount importance in modern democracies. We propose a theory of electoral accountability where candidates choose whether to …

-checking company. Our results show that politicians are responsive to negative fact-checking. Specifically, we observe a significative … reduction in the number of incorrect statements made by politicians after being treated. This effect persists for at least two … months. We also observe a reduction in the probability of politicians making verifiable statements, suggesting that fact …