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The Political Economy of Elections in Latin America, 1980–1991

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  • Remmer, Karen L.

Abstract

The process of political democratization in Latin America during the 1980s created a rare opportunity to explore the political economy of elections outside of the North Atlantic basin. Using interrupted time-series analysis, I explore the impact of elections on macroeconomic performance in eight Latin American nations. The findings indicate that macroeconomic performance has fluctuated with the electoral calendar but that contrary to the traditional business cycle literature, as well as the conventional wisdom about Latin America, competitive elections have enhanced, rather than undermined, the capacity of political leaders to address outstanding problems of macroeconomic management. The analysis suggests that the relationship between democracy and economics is captured more adequately by a “political capital” model than by its traditional theoretical alternative.

Suggested Citation

  • Remmer, Karen L., 1993. "The Political Economy of Elections in Latin America, 1980–1991," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 393-407, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:87:y:1993:i:02:p:393-407_10
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    Cited by:

    1. Eric Dubois, 2016. "Political business cycles 40 years after Nordhaus," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 235-259, January.
    2. Chiu, Eric M.P., 2020. "Reexamining the Macroeconomic Policy Cycle in Taiwan: Evidence from the Central Bank’s Monetary Reaction Function," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 61(2), pages 89-110, December.
    3. Rabia Nazir & Muhammad Nasir & Idrees Khawaja, 2022. "Political Budget Cycle: A Sub-National Evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Business Cycle Research, Springer;Centre for International Research on Economic Tendency Surveys (CIRET), vol. 18(3), pages 343-367, November.
    4. Schady, Norbert R., 1999. "Seeking votes - the political economy of expenditures by the Peruvian Social Fund (FONCODES), 1991-95," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2166, The World Bank.
    5. Jorge M. Streb & Daniel Lema & Pablo Garofalo, 2012. "Temporal aggregation in political budget cycles," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2012), pages 39-78, August.
    6. Eslava, Marcela & Streb, Jorge M., 2011. "Comments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123271, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Fernando Blumenschein, 1995. "The Positive Economics of Inflation in Brazil," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(4), pages 651-686, October.
    8. Steven A. Block & Karen E. Ferree & Smita Singh, 2003. "Multiparty Competition, Founding Elections and Political Business Cycles in Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 12(3), pages 444-468, September.
    9. Can Sever & Emekcan Yucel, 2021. "Electoral Cycles in Inequality Abstract:," Working Papers 2021/01, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    10. Resce, Giuliano, 2022. "Political and Non-Political Officials in Local Government," Economics & Statistics Discussion Papers esdp22079, University of Molise, Department of Economics.
    11. Dušan Pavlović & Dimitros Xefteris, 2020. "Qualifying the common pool problem in government spending: the role of positional externalities," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 446-457, December.
    12. Serguey Braguinsky, 1998. "Democracy And Economic Reform: Theory And Some Evidence From The Russian Case," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 16(2), pages 227-240, April.
    13. Can Sever & Emekcan Yucel, 2020. "Macroprudential Policy and Elections: What Matters? Abstract:," Working Papers 2020/01, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    14. Li, Jingheng & Xi, Tianyang & Yao, Yang, 2020. "Empowering knowledge: Political leaders, education, and economic liberalization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Isadora Sánchez-Torné & Macarena Pérez-Suárez & Juan Carlos Morán-Álvarez, 2020. "Una comparativa de la innovación de Espana y Rusia: ¿políticas bilaterales para la innovación?," Revista Finanzas y Politica Economica, Universidad Católica de Colombia, vol. 12(1), pages 201-233, June.
    16. Stephan Kaplan, 2016. "partisan Technocratic Cycles in Latin America," Working Papers 2016-28, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    17. Stefan Krause & Fabio Méndez, 2009. "Corruption And Elections: An Empirical Study For A Cross‐Section Of Countries," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 179-200, July.
    18. Sever, Can & Yücel, Emekcan, 2022. "The effects of elections on macroprudential policy," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 507-533.

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