Mediocracy, Fourth Version

Andrea Mattozzi and Antonio Merlo

PIER Working Paper Archive from Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract: We study the recruitment of individuals in the political sector. We propose an equilibrium model of political recruitment by two political parties competing in an election. We show that political parties may deliberately choose to recruit only mediocre politicians, in spite of the fact that they could select better individuals. Furthermore, we show that this phenomenon is more likely to occur in proportional than in majoritarian electoral systems.

Keywords: Politicians; Parties; Political Recruitment; Electoral Systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2011-01-24, Revised 2013-02-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pen:papers:13-010

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