Guns, environment and abortion: how single-minded voters shape politicians decisions

Laurent Bouton, Paola Conconi, Francisco Pino and Maurizio Zanardi

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We study how electoral incentives affect policy choices on secondary issues, which only minorities of voters care intensely about. We develop a model in which office and policy motivated politicians choose to support or oppose regulations on these issues. We derive conditions under which politicians flip-flop, voting according to their policy preferences at the beginning of their terms, but in line with the preferences of single-issue minorities as they approach re-election. To assess the evidence, we study U.S. senators' votes on gun control, environment, and reproductive rights. In line with our model's predictions, election proximity has a pro-gun effect on Democratic senators and a proenvironment effect on Republican senators. These effects only arise for non-retiring senators, who represent states where the single-issue minority is of intermediate size. Also in line with our theory, election proximity has no impact on senators' decisions on reproductive rights, because of the presence of single-issue minorities on both sides.

Keywords: electoral incentives; environment; gun control; reproductive rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 I18 Q00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-03-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/88685/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Guns, environment and abortion: how single-minded voters shape politicians decisions (2018)
Working Paper: Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians' Decisions (2018)
Working Paper: Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians’ Decisions* (2018)
Working Paper: Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians' Decisions (2018)
Working Paper: Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians' Decisions (2018)
Working Paper: Guns, Environment, and Abortion: How Single-Minded Voters Shape Politicians' Decisions (2018)
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