CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Mermet, Vanessa |
|---|---|
| Title | Voters, Politicians and Oligarchs: Under What Conditions is Vote Buying a Cost-Efficient Strategy in the Case of Bulgaria? |
| Summary | Studies about vote buying in the literature usually focus on a principal-agent linkage. Furthermore, as far as institutions are assessed, they are not studied as possibly shaping the rules of the game but rather as external possibilities. In my research I argue for the need to integrate a third actor to the voters-politicians framework, I assess the costs and benefits for the three actors to engage in vote buying and explore different institutional features allowing vote buying thanks to this framework. I use a single case study, Bulgaria, and my findings are based on reports and literature as well as interviews with experts or witnesses of vote buying in the country. The findings of this research are twofold. On the one hand, the introduction of the informal business as an actor equally important to voters and politicians is new and reshapes the logical framework of vote buying. I argue that, within this framework, vote buying is a cost-efficient strategy for all the actors involved. On the other hand, this thesis provides with insights of institutional features which could be reformed in order to decrease incentives for the actors to engage in vote buying. Two propositions concerning the judiciary as well as party financing are elaborated. |
| Supervisor | Toka, Gabor |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/mermet_vanessa.pdf |
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