Is Local Development Good Politics? Local Development Expenditures and the Re-Election of Governors in the Philippines in the 1990s

Are incumbent governors who put more weight on development spending likely to be re-elected? To answer this question, an economic model of a re-electionist local chief executive is introduced and validated with a panel data of provincial governors who ran for another term of office during the electi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian journal of political science 2009, 17(3), , pp.265-284
Main Authors: Solon, Jose Orville C., Fabella, Raul V., Capuno, Joseph J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clans
Competition
Decentralization
Economic Development
Elections
Expenditures
Governors
Philippines
Political Clans
Public expenditure
Re-Election
행정학
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Summary:Are incumbent governors who put more weight on development spending likely to be re-elected? To answer this question, an economic model of a re-electionist local chief executive is introduced and validated with a panel data of provincial governors who ran for another term of office during the election years 1992, 1995 and 1998 in the Philippines. It is found that incumbent governors improve their re-election chances with higher spending on economic development services, other things being constant. Moreover, governors who are members of political clans also have higher development spending especially when faced with rival clans. Thus, elections are still an effective disciplining device, more especially when rivalry is intense among political clans. The policy implication then is to enhance political competition rather than just ban political dynasties to improve the performance of elected officials under decentralization.
ISSN:0218-5377
1750-7812
DOI:10.1080/02185370903403475