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Are swing voters instruments of democracy or farmers of clientelism? Evidence from Ghana
Africa, Article / Working Paper, Democracy, Electoral Systems, Political Parties, Academic/Think TankThis paper states that is one of the first to systematically address the question of whether strength of ethnic identity, political parties’ campaigns, poverty, or evaluation of clientelism versus collective/public goods, determines who becomes a persuadable voter in Africa. The paper conducts an empirical analysis using a unique data set from a survey conducted ahead of Ghana’...
The successful Ghana election of 2008 – a convenient myth? Ethnicity in Ghana’s elections revisited
Africa, Article / Working Paper, Democracy, Electoral Systems, Civil SocietyGhana’s 2008 elections have been hailed by national and international observers as a model for Africa. This perception has prevailed despite persistent concerns about “ethnic block voting” and electoral fraud. Electoral malpractice and vote rigging along ethnic lines in Ghana’s virtual two‐party system could regain decisive importance as a “third...
The power of proximity: strategic decisions in African Party Politics
Africa, Article / Working Paper, Electoral Systems, Political Parties, Civil SocietyThere is increasing availability of survey data which has enabled researchers to rethink and challenge the notion that ethnicity is a main determinant of political party success. The observation that people are more likely to vote regionally than ethnically, has inspired a review of the idea that African voters act parochially rather than tribally. This paper...
Exposing Corrupt Politicians: The Effects of Brazil's Publicly Released Audits on Electoral Outcomes
Article / Working Paper, Corruption, Democracy, Electoral Systems, Latin America and the Carribean, Academic/Think TankThis paper, published in the May 2008 edition of The Quarterly Journal of Economics, uses publicly released audit reports to study the effects of disclosing information about corruption practices on electoral accountability. Using a data set on corruption constructed from the audit reports, we compare the electoral outcomes of municipalities audited before versus after the 2004...
Perceptions of Corruption in Mass Publics
Article / Working Paper, Corruption, Electoral Systems, Academic/Think TankCorruption is an important but very difficult phenomenon to measure. Mass surveys are very useful tools in the study of corruption. Perceptions of corruption in mass publics give valid and valuable information. And if the perception measurements are complemented with interview questions asking about behaviors like bribe giving and perhaps also bribe taking, the potential for real...
Political cycles and economic performance in OECD countries: empirical evidence from 1951-2006
Article / Working Paper, Electoral Systems, Political Parties, Academic/Think TankThis paper examines whether electoral motives and government ideology influence short-term economic performance. I employ data on annual GDP growth in 21 OECD countries over the 1951-2006 period and provide a battery of empirical tests. In countries with two-party systems GDP growth is boosted before elections and, under leftwing governments, in the first two years of a legislative period....
Political and institutional checks on corruption: Explaining the performance of Brazilian Audit Institutions
Article / Working Paper, Corruption, Democracy, Electoral Systems, Latin America and the Carribean, Political Parties, Academic/Think TankThis article investigates the performance determinants of accountability institutions in new democracies. Current scholarship on accountability has identified a distinct mechanism through which the introduction of political competition may affect such institutions: the electoral connection or vertical accountability mechanism. This connection is not expected to be effective in new democracies,...
Using International Law to Assess Elections
Article / Working Paper, Electoral Systems, Europe and CIS, Civil SocietyThis article provides an overview of existing obligations for democratic elections in Public International Law (PIL), and links these obligations to criteria for assessing electoral processes. We argue that PIL provides a basis for election observation that is more transparent, more objective, and has greater authority with host countries because it relies on states‘ acknowledged...