We introduce endogenous political parties into the Hotelling-Downs voting framework to model the selection of candidates. First, activists choose which party to join, if at all. Second, party members select a champion for the general election. Third, the electorate median voter determines the...

This paper provides a theoretical model of electoral competition in a multidimensional political arena with a heterogenous electorate and politically active interest groups. The emerging pattern of movement in policy platforms is fundamentally different to the concept of convergence proposed by...

This paper analyses the accuracy of the tax projections of West German states from a public choice perspective. It argues that state governments have the possibility and face incentives to manipulate tax projections. Evidence for the years 1992 – 2002 reveals a general upward bias in tax...

This article is part of ongoing research on the left in Italy, and attempts to explain the origins, significance and outcome of the key issue at the PDS's 2nd Congress: the future of the party itself.

This paper examines the incentives for a party leader in office and for a parties' rank-and-file to replace a sitting member of parliament. As to the leader's decision, we show that the leader prefers to replace a critical member of parliament who votes against the leader's policy. A competent...

The paper presents a political agency model that observes how budgetary decisions on public good production affect the prospects of holding office for an incumbent political party. A simple budgetary function is broadened to include other expenditures such as public sector wages and social...

Die Europawahl 2024 hat in Deutschland zu einer Zweiteilung der politischen Landkarte geführt. Während in den westlichen Bundesländern überwiegend die Union zur stärksten Partei gekürt wird, dominiert im Osten die AfD. Dieser Wochenbericht untersucht, welche regionalen Faktoren im...

Die Europawahl 2024 hat in Deutschland zu einer Zweiteilung der politischen Landkarte geführt. Während in den westlichen Bundesländern überwiegend die Union zur stärksten Partei gekürt wird, dominiert im Osten die AfD. Dieser Wochenbericht untersucht, welche regionalen Faktoren im...

Using US data of media's coverage of politics and individual survey data, the authors document that in the states with a greater coverage of politics, citizens especially exposed to newspapers have more polarized preferences, partly coming from better political knowledge, and resulting in a...

The authors use US data on media coverage of politics and individual survey data to document that citizens exposed to more politicized newspapers have more extreme political preferences. This polarization effect of media is mainly driven by individuals who harbor liberal opinions reading more...