IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v187y2021i3d10.1007_s11127-020-00786-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Party switching and political outcomes: evidence from Brazilian municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • Henrique Augusto Campos Fernandez Hott

    (FEA/USP)

  • Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai

    (FEA-RP/USP)

Abstract

Although party switching is a relatively rare event in most countries, the phenomenon is widespread in Brazil. This paper investigates the effects of party switching on political and economic variables between 2001 and 2012 using a database containing more than 4900 Brazilian municipalities. In particular, given that the conventional literature addresses party switching by legislators, this paper focuses on chief executives, specifically mayors, a subject that has not yet been explored in the literature. In this study, party switching is interpreted as a treatment effect: the treated group comprises municipalities whose mayors changed parties during their terms in office. The control group comprises municipalities with no party switching, but with similar likelihoods of being treated, as defined by propensity score matching (PSM) methods. Our results suggest that mayors belonging to the same party as the state governor or the president are less likely to switch parties. Moreover, switching from a different party to the state governor’s party creates the best results for switchers who want to be renominated. Regarding reelection, our panel estimations suggest that the impact of party switching on reelection is positive. Finally, we find no statistically significant effect of party switching on the amounts of transfers received by municipalities from upper government levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Henrique Augusto Campos Fernandez Hott & Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai, 2021. "Party switching and political outcomes: evidence from Brazilian municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 403-438, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:187:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00786-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-020-00786-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-020-00786-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11127-020-00786-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai & Maria Isabel Accoroni Theodoro, 2020. "On the relationship between political alignment and government transfers: triple differences evidence from a developing country," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1107-1141, March.
    2. Scott W. Desposato, 2006. "Parties for Rent? Ambition, Ideology, and Party Switching in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(1), pages 62-80, January.
    3. Michael Laver & Kenneth Benoit, 2003. "The Evolution of Party Systems between Elections," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(2), pages 215-233, April.
    4. Marco Migueis, 2013. "The Effect of Political Alignment on Transfers to Portuguese Municipalities," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 110-133, March.
    5. Desposato, Scott & Scheiner, Ethan, 2008. "Governmental Centralization and Party Affiliation: Legislator Strategies in Brazil and Japan," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(4), pages 509-524, November.
    6. William B. Heller & Carol Mershon, 2008. "Dealing in Discipline: Party Switching and Legislative Voting in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 1988–2000," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 910-925, October.
    7. Reed, Steven R. & Scheiner, Ethan, 2003. "Electoral Incentives and Policy Preferences: Mixed Motives Behind Party Defections in Japan," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 469-490, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aaron R Martin, 2021. "Party group collapse and strategic switching in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 22(3), pages 521-544, September.
    2. Daniele, Gianmarco & Galletta, Sergio & Geys, Benny, 2020. "Abandon ship? Party brands and politicians' responses to a political scandal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. William B. Heller & Carol Mershon, 2008. "Dealing in Discipline: Party Switching and Legislative Voting in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 1988–2000," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 910-925, October.
    4. Paula González & Francesca Passarelli & M. Socorro Puy, 2019. "Discipline, party switching and policy divergence," Working Papers 19.05, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    5. Emanuele Brancati & Silvia Fedeli & Francesco Forte & Leone Leonida, 2022. "Opportunism and MPs’ chances of re-election: an analysis of political transformism in the Italian parliament," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(3), pages 273-308, September.
    6. Bilge Öztürk Göktuna, 2019. "A dynamic model of party membership and ideologies," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 31(2), pages 209-243, April.
    7. Carol Mershon & Olga Shvetsova, 2014. "Change in parliamentary party systems and policy outcomes: Hunting the core," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 26(2), pages 331-351, April.
    8. Luisa Schneider & Daniela Wech & Matthias Wrede, 2022. "Political alignment and project funding," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(6), pages 1561-1589, December.
    9. Das, Sabyasachi & Dutta, Souvik & Sarkar, Abhirup, 2021. "Political economy of third party interventions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    10. Levoshko, Tamila, 2017. ""Pork-Barrel"-Politik und das regionale Wirtschaftswachstum. Empirische Evidenz für die Ukraine und Polen," Working Papers 0642, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    11. Jean-François Laslier & Bilge Ozturk Goktuna, 2016. "Opportunist politicians and the evolution of electoral competition," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 381-406, May.
    12. Özge Kemahlıoğlu & Sabri Sayarı, 2017. "Defecting alone or splitting together? Individual and collective party switching by legislators," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 187-206, April.
    13. Sabyasachi Das & Souvik Dutta & Abhirup Sarkar, 2019. "Political Economy of Third Party Interventions," Working Papers 1029, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    14. Kantorowicz, Jarosław & Köppl–Turyna, Monika, 2019. "Disentangling the fiscal effects of local constitutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 63-87.
    15. Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai & Maria Isabel Accoroni Theodoro, 2020. "On the relationship between political alignment and government transfers: triple differences evidence from a developing country," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1107-1141, March.
    16. Momi Dahan & Itamar Yakir, 2022. "Revealed political favoritism: evidence from the allocation of state lottery grants in Israel," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 190(3), pages 387-406, March.
    17. Ferraz, Claudio & Finan, Frederico S., 2007. "Electoral Accountability and Corruption in Local Governments: Evidence from Audit Reports," IZA Discussion Papers 2843, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Carol Mershon, 2020. "Challenging the wisdom on preferential proportional representation," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 32(1), pages 168-182, January.
    19. Kammas, Pantelis & Poulima, Maria & Sarantides, Vassilis, 2023. "Fueling the party machine: Evidence from Greece during Metapolitefsi," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Christa N. Brunnschweiler & Samuel Kwabena Obeng, 2020. "Rewarding Allegiance: Political Alignment and Fiscal Outcomes in Local Government," University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series 2020-05, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Party switching; Brazilian municipalities; Electoral performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H79 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:187:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00786-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.