Abstract
We test the hypothesis that governments facing popular protest are more likely to use fiscal policy for re-election purposes, employing data of 65 democratic countries–both developed and developing–over the period 1975–2005. Using the number of anti-government demonstrations and general strikes in pre-election years as measures of popular protest, our results lend support to this hypothesis. The effect of protest on the manipulation of fiscal policy for re-election purposes is strongest in young democracies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 516-520 |
| Journal | Economics Letters |
| Volume | 120 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- business-cycle
- models
- determinants
- democracies
- countries
- debt