Electoral rules and political selection: theory and evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan

Andrew Beath, Fotini Christia, Georgy Egorov and Ruben Enikolopov

No 7361, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Voters commonly face a choice between competent candidates and those with policy preferences similar to their own. This paper explores how electoral rules, such as district magnitude, mediate this trade-off and affect the composition of representative bodies and policy outcomes. The paper shows formally that anticipation of bargaining over policy causes voters in elections with multiple single-member districts to prefer candidates with polarized policy positions over more competent candidates. Results from a unique field experiment in Afghanistan are consistent with these predictions. Specifically, representatives elected in elections with a single multi-member district are better educated and exhibit less extreme policy preferences.

Keywords: Parliamentary Government; E-Government; Housing&Human Habitats; Social Accountability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-07-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-exp and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Electoral Rules and Political Selection: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7361

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