41

The paper ascertains whether elections affect public policies. Two hypotheses are examined. This first is that left wing governments spend more than right wing governments. The second is that governments increase their spending in the months preceding the election. The paper reviews quantitative research dealing with these two hypotheses. I show that the empirical evidence broadly supports the two hypotheses. The studies also show, however, that elections are only one of the many factors that influence budgetary outcomes and that their impact is relatively small. Nevertheless, quantitative empirical research modestly supports the claim of those who believe that elections matter.