POL SCI 109Z Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Homicide, Embezzlement, Arson
16 Dec 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Voters may reward politicians for good performance, punish them for poor performance. Income after government transfers, taxes, and inflation. Calculated as percent change over previous year. Voters reward income growth pretty spectacularly for candidates. Generally, democracies have very low rates of violence. Often less than one homicide per 100,000 people per year. Part of the answer may be retrospective voting. Something happens in the news politicians try to do something after the outrage. Examining incumbent mayoral races (because they control the police) Shows that folks aren"t necessarily holding politicians accountable based on graphs. Potential reason: people affected most by violence are disenfranchised from voting. Crime rose in 1960s, but voters did not seem to punish mayors. Mayors ran at the same rate and won at the same rate. Manipulation: mayors and police forces may manipulate statistics about crimes, especially those released to the media before the election.
