Janet Porras-Mendoza, Charles R. Hankla, and ICePP Director Jorge Martinez-Vazquez recently released “Electoral Accountability and Fiscal Federalism: The Case of Peru.” In it, they use government information as well as data coded for this project to examine the case of Peru, assessing how measures of local government success affect the probability of reelection and recall. They find that, when Mayors manage their waste collection and education portfolios more effectively, they are more likely to win office in subsequent elections. They are also less likely to be removed in recall votes. More than that, when Mayors spend more overall, and especially when they spend more on capital projects, the authors find that mayors’ probability of reelection improves, and their risk of recall declines. Overall, their results show clearly that Peru’s citizens use their votes rationally to reward and punish locally elected politicians. This gives substance and support to the notion that, at least under certain circumstances, accountability can function well under decentralized government.
Read the full working paper here.
About ICePP’s Working Paper Series
The International Center for Public Policy has published a working paper series since 1997 to disseminate academic research quickly and to stimulate discussion that can expand knowledge, instill optimal practice and build capacity in the public sector around the world to improve human well-being.
Our primary areas of interest are fiscal decentralization and local governance, tax policy, and public budgeting and fiscal management in the global context. Some papers may focus on the United States if the results have international relevance.
All views expressed in this working paper series are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the International Center for Public Policy, the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies or Georgia State University. All papers should be cited properly with reference to the author(s), institution and working paper series. Find all of our working papers here.