Publications
- Who Gets Bought? Vote Buying, Turnout Buying, and Other Strategies
- Download: PDF 441.39 KB
- by Gans-Morse, Jordan; Mazzuca, Sebastián; Nichter, Simeon
- During elections in many countries, political parties distribute particularistic benefits to
individuals. The existing literature reveals that parties choose from at least five distinct
strategies when distributing benefits, but fails to explain how parties allocate resources
across these strategies. Our formal model provides insight into this key question. Most
studies focus exclusively on "vote buying," a strategy by which parties reward voters for
switching their votes. Our model first shows how parties trade off between "vote buying"
and "turnout buying," a strategy by which parties reward supporters for showing up at the
polls (Nichter 2008). We then show how parties combine these and other commonly
observed strategies.
- Publication Type: WCFIA Working Paper
- Published Date: April 2009
- Field of Interest: Comparative Politics
- Gans-Morse, Jordan, Sebastian Mazzuca, and Simeon Nichter. "Who Gets Bought? Vote Buying, Turnout Buying, and Other Strategies." Working Paper 2009-0006, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, April 2009.
