Non-Policy Politics: Richer Voters, Poorer Voters, and the Diversification of Electoral Strategies

The paradox of modern democracies is that they level the playing field so that profoundly unequal parties may compete against each other. Political parties in democracies seem to enjoy unfettered freedom to select and advertise the policies of their choosing. However, they have different reputations for competence and honesty, unequal capacity to recruit and mobilize activists, as well as different access to public office and money. While competition for policy may be the paramount goal of democratic representation, most of parties'time and energy is devoted to managing non-policy endowments. There are good reasons for this. Any party can offer policy, but only a handful of them can deliver.  In this book, Calvo and Murillo describe how non-policy resources shape party competition. With exhaustive empirical work, both qualitative and quantitative, they  document how linkages between parties and voters shape the delivery of non-policy benefits in Argentina and Chile. Read more