Abstract

In the static model, the voter faces two delegation inefficiencies: 1. the elected party may inefficiently leave the policy in place, and 2. the elected party may inefficiently change the policy. Facing the tradeoff between these two inefficiencies, we show, the voter exhibits a statusquo bias: she tends to elect the party whose ideology is aligned with the status quo. In the dynamic model, expecting this electoral bias, the party in office becomes less responsive to the state in order to be reelected, and instead too frequently implements the policy it is ideologically aligned with. Hence, the electoral strategy of the voter, though optimal ex post, exacerbates both delegation distortions and leads to an apparent polarization of the parties.