We model the internal game between the leader and the factions of a party, to study the effect of party leadership on electoral success. Factions are of interest or of principle. The probability of winning the election is increasing in how close the party position is to the median voter, the...

In contemporary constitutional jurisprudence, capacious notions of individual liberty are ascendant. Under the First Amendment, due process, takings, nondelegation, and a range of interpretive doctrines, advocates are seeking greater respect for individual liberty, and greater constitutional...

This paper studies the effects of interactions between campaign spending and ideology on voter polarization. In a setting where microtargeting of advertisements is prevalent, we consider how differences in the resources available to the parties competing in an election, affect the campaign and...

Democratic direct voting on issues (in the form of referenda) suffers from the tyranny of the majority as well as potentially supporting extremist and populist positions. We state 4 fair voting principles for issue based voting, and show that current direct voting systems are not consistent with...

Using hand-collected data on political contributions from undisclosed sources, we document novel stylized facts on "dark money" and its role in elections and politician type. Over the past decade, dark money has become a major source of campaign financing and currently comprises the largest...

The process of election administration in many new democracies continues to generate a lot of controversy; particularly with regards to the level of independence of Election Management Bodies (EMB’s), their professionalism and the acceptability of the elections they conduct. In Nigeria -...

We introduce a name market into an overlapping generations model to address politician selection and political accountability when officeholders need not stand for re-election. We show that the name market could mitigate both issues. On the one hand, acquiring a good name screens good...

We introduce a name market into an overlapping generations model to address politician selection and political accountability when officeholders need not stand for re-election. We show that the name market could mitigate both issues. On the one hand, acquiring a good name screens good...

This paper studies the mechanisms behind party polarization in the US Congress. The model generates a link between the initial composition of the parties, the behavior of new interest groups and the pattern and level of polarization along the new policy dimension (e.g., environment). Our...

This paper studies the effects of interactions between campaign spending and ideology on voter polarization. In a setting where microtargeting of advertisements is prevalent, we consider how differences in the resources available to the parties competing in an election, affect the campaign and...