The Selection of the Political Class

THE ERC PROJECT OF TOMMASO NANNICINI EXPLORES THE MECHANISMS OF THE CAREER OF POLITICIANS AND VOTERS' CHOICES

The role of political parties in shaping political careers has rarely been studied, due to the lack of data. The challenge was taken up by Tommaso Nannicini (Department of Economics). A strand of his ERC-funded project Explaining Politicians’ and Voters’ Behavior, hosted by IGIER - Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research, is dedicated to the understanding of political career mechanisms. “The study of career trajectories and networks within political parties is a mean to estimate the quality of elected politicians and their policy decisions”.
 
The project will use data on the members of the provincial organizations of the Partito Democratico della Sinistra. They date back to fifteen years ago, a time frame that allows researchers to measure career trajectories. A second strand of the project focuses on the electoral choices not driven by a rational benefit-cost analysis of electoral agendas. “We are testing the theory of cognitive dissonance in voting behavior”.
 
A study was conducted in collaboration with some Italian candidates who have agreed to send their voters a few opposite messages selected by an algorithm: positive slogans, focused on their own electoral program, vs. negative slogans, focused on the opponent’s shortcomings. “We have the first result: men are attracted by negative messages, while women reject them”.

Read here the other articles on the ERC research projects:

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University at the Time of Star Wars
The Culture That Influences Demography
For a History of Inequality in Europe
Fostering Solidarity in Times of Migrations
A Theory of Games and Emotions
Why with Broadband We will have More Children
How to Communicate Climate Science
At the Birth of Maritime Insurance
Even Distorted Choices can be Rational
The Psychology of Economic Behavior
Great Expectations for Great Objectives
What we are Certain about Uncertainty
Putting a Halt to the Spread of Infections
Wellbeing and Fertility, a Two-Way Relationship
The Role of Financial Imperfections
The World Through the Lens of Power
How to Evaluate Innovative Ideas
A Help for Those who make Predictions
When a Government is Guided by Values
 

 

by Claudio Todesco