Open AccessDeterminants of party and mayor reelection in local governments: An empirical examination for Argentina during 1983-2011
Author(s) -
Sebastián Freille,
Víctor Hugo Mazzalay
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
revista de economía y estadística/revista de economía y estadística
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2451-7321
pISSN - 0034-8066
DOI - 10.55444/2451.7321.2018.v56.n1.29388
Subject(s) - voting , local election , variation (astronomy) , local government , political science , economics , voting behavior , public economics , demographic economics , public administration , politics , law , physics , astrophysics
This paper examines the determinants of reelection of parties and mayors in Argentine local elections during the 1983-2011 period. Using a unique and comprehensive database recording local elecion results for over 1200 local governments, we test three potential sources of variation: structural factors, polítical/institutional variables and economic variables. We find that incumbency advantage is strongly and significantly related with a higher probability of reelection. We also find some evidence supporting the economic voting hypothesis, that local economic conditions are relevant for explaining re-election of local governments. We also find that local governments where parties and mayors have been in office for a long time have greater re-election chances. Finally, we find that governments with municipal charters have lower probability of reelection. Summing up, there seems to be both economic and politico-institucional factors behind re-election rates of parties and mayors in Argentine local governments.