Social Ideology and Taxes in a Differentiated Candidates Framework
研究了美国社会文化议题上的政治极化如何影响候选人在经济议题上的竞争，分析了选民文化偏好和候选人文化立场对均衡经济立场的作用。
Many observers argue that political polarization, particularly on social and cultural issues, has increased in the United States. How does this influence the political competition on economic issues? We analyze this question using a framework in which two officemotivated candidates differ in their fixed ideological position and choose a level of government spending to maximize their vote share. In equilibrium, candidates cater to a set of swing voters who contain socially conservative and economically-liberal voters, as well as socially-liberal and economically-conservative voters. We analyze how voters’ cultural preferences and candidates’ cultural positions influence equilibrium economic positions.