Abstract
Language | English |
---|---|
Place of Publication | Glasgow |
Publisher | University of Strathclyde |
Pages | 1-32 |
Number of pages | 32 |
Volume | 09 |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- political agency
- expressive voting
- rational irrationality
- demovratic inefficiency
- populism
Cite this
}
The Good, the Bad and the Populist : A Model of Political Agency with Emotional Voters . / Jennings, Colin.
09. ed. Glasgow : University of Strathclyde, 2009. p. 1-32.Research output: Working paper › Discussion paper
TY - UNPB
T1 - The Good, the Bad and the Populist
T2 - A Model of Political Agency with Emotional Voters
AU - Jennings, Colin
N1 - Published as a paper within the Discussion Papers in Economics, No. 09-09 (2009)
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - This paper attempts to extend existing models of political agency to an environment in which voting may be divided between informed and instrumental, informed and ‘expressive’ (Brennan and Lomasky (1993)) and uninformed due to ‘rational irrationality’ (Caplan (2007)). It constructs a model where politicians may be good, bad or populist. Populists are more willing than good politicians to pander to voters who may choose inferior policies in a large-group electoral setting because their vote is insignificant compared with those that voters would choose were their vote decisive in determining the electoral outcome. Bad politicians would ideally like to extract tax revenue for their own ends. Initially we assume the existence of only good and populist politicians. The paper investigates the incentives for good politicians to pool with or separate from populists and focuses on three key issues – (1) how far the majority of voter’s preferences are from those held by the better informed incumbent politician (2) the extent to which the population exhibits rational irrationality and expressiveness (jointly labelled as emotional) and (3) the cost involved in persuading uninformed voters to change their views in terms of composing messages and spreading them. This paper goes on to consider how the inclusion of bad politicians may affect the behaviour of good politicians and suggests that a small amount of potential corruption may be socially useful. It is also argued that where bad politicians have an incentive to mimic the behaviour of good and populist politicians, the latter types of politician may have an incentive to separate from bad politicians by investing in costly public education signals. The paper also discusses the implications of the model for whether fiscal restraints should be soft or hard.
AB - This paper attempts to extend existing models of political agency to an environment in which voting may be divided between informed and instrumental, informed and ‘expressive’ (Brennan and Lomasky (1993)) and uninformed due to ‘rational irrationality’ (Caplan (2007)). It constructs a model where politicians may be good, bad or populist. Populists are more willing than good politicians to pander to voters who may choose inferior policies in a large-group electoral setting because their vote is insignificant compared with those that voters would choose were their vote decisive in determining the electoral outcome. Bad politicians would ideally like to extract tax revenue for their own ends. Initially we assume the existence of only good and populist politicians. The paper investigates the incentives for good politicians to pool with or separate from populists and focuses on three key issues – (1) how far the majority of voter’s preferences are from those held by the better informed incumbent politician (2) the extent to which the population exhibits rational irrationality and expressiveness (jointly labelled as emotional) and (3) the cost involved in persuading uninformed voters to change their views in terms of composing messages and spreading them. This paper goes on to consider how the inclusion of bad politicians may affect the behaviour of good politicians and suggests that a small amount of potential corruption may be socially useful. It is also argued that where bad politicians have an incentive to mimic the behaviour of good and populist politicians, the latter types of politician may have an incentive to separate from bad politicians by investing in costly public education signals. The paper also discusses the implications of the model for whether fiscal restraints should be soft or hard.
KW - political agency
KW - expressive voting
KW - rational irrationality
KW - demovratic inefficiency
KW - populism
M3 - Discussion paper
VL - 09
SP - 1
EP - 32
BT - The Good, the Bad and the Populist
PB - University of Strathclyde
CY - Glasgow
ER -