Scholars of distributive politics often emphasize partisanship and clientelism. However, as
Jennifer Bussell demonstrates in Clients and Constituents, legislators in" patronage …

Social policies can transform the lives of the poor and marginalized, yet inequitable
implementation often limits their access. Uneven Social Policies shifts the focus of welfare …

Government programs often fail on the ground because of poor implementation by local
bureaucrats. Prominent explanations for poor implementation emphasize bureaucratic rent …

The solution to weak bureaucratic capacity in developing countries is often presumed to be
more accountability. This paper shows how accountability initiatives, intended to reduce …

There is a growing recognition that the state is not the sole provider of “local public goods”
such as water and education in the developing world. Mainstream approaches to the study …

Politicians may target public goods to benefit their constituents, at the expense of others. I
study corruption in the context of Indian electricity and estimate the welfare consequences …

Most global population growth over the next two decades is projected to occur in small-and
medium-sized cities in low-and middle-income countries. Expectations derived from the …

This article introduces a new explanation for why citizens may fail to vote based on
government performance. We argue that when politicians have limited capacity to control …

The share of basic services that NGOs deliver has grown dramatically in developing
countries due to increased receipt of aid and philanthropy in these countries. Many scholars …

Why do incumbents enjoy an electoral advantage in some political settings but suffer from a
disadvantage in others? We propose a novel explanation linking variation in incumbency …