Chaudhuri, Ananish, Iversen, Vegard, Jensenius, Francesca R. and Maitra, Pushkar (2025) Selecting the “Best”? Competing dimensions of politician quality in the Developing World. British Journal of Political Science (BJPolS). ISSN 0007-1234 (Print), 1469-2112 (Online) (In Press)

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Abstract

Evidence suggests that politicians in advanced democracies are positively selected on characteristics relevant to their suitability for political office. Whereas stereotypes abound, much less is known about the quality of politicians in developing countries. Drawing on unique experimental and survey data on village-level politicians in West Bengal, India, we find some evidence of positive selection into office: elected politicians are more educated, motivated, and have greater integrity than their constituents. However, they also have lower cognitive ability and are more likely to come from politically networked families. Comparing first-timers with re-elected politicians, we observe that experienced politicians display somewhat more political knowledge and motivation than their inexperienced peers, but are also more likely to be wealthy and male. Our findings demonstrate that conclusions about politician quality depend critically on measurement choices and that there may be competing dimensions of politician quality in the developing world.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Earlier version of this article have been published here: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp8597.pdf (working paper) - MP
Uncontrolled Keywords:	political selection, politician quality, experiments, India, South Asia
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Society, Environment and Development (CSED) Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Society, Environment and Development (CSED) > Gender & Social Difference
Last Modified:	27 Mar 2025 11:08
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50011

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