City Research Online

Party Leader or Party Reputation Concerns? How Vertical Partisan Alignment Reins in Subnational Fiscal Profligacy

Benton, A. L. (2019). Party Leader or Party Reputation Concerns? How Vertical Partisan Alignment Reins in Subnational Fiscal Profligacy. The Journal of Politics, 81(1), pp. 201-214. doi: 10.1086/700201

Abstract

Some scholars argue that party leader considerations drive governors copartisan with presidents toward fiscal discipline, while others argue that party reputation concerns guide their behavior. To demonstrate how to assess whether either of these mechanisms is at work, I extend this analysis to the municipal level. If mayors aligned with both governors and presidents are more disciplined than mayors aligned with presidents only, copartisan governors affect mayoral fiscal behavior through party leader considerations. If mayors aligned with both governors and presidents are just as fiscally disciplined as those aligned with presidents only, party reputation concerns drive mayoral fiscal behavior. Cross-sectional time-series analysis of debt used to finance fiscal excess in municipal Mexico reveals support for the party-leader-concern logic in this nation, but the party reputation logic (or both logics or neither logic) may be at work in others.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2018 by the Southern Political Science Association. All rights reserved
Publisher Keywords: vertical partisan effects, federal fiscal contracts, fiscal spending, municipal spending, municipal debt, Mexico.
Subjects: F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General)
J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General)
Departments: School of Policy & Global Affairs > International Politics
SWORD Depositor:
[thumbnail of Party Leader or Party Reputation Concerns.pdf]
Preview
Text - Published Version
Download (1MB) | Preview

Export

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

Actions (login required)

Admin Login Admin Login