Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T02:37:41.323Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Coalition Formation and Selectorate Theory: An Experiment*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2015

Andrew W. Bausch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper uses a laboratory experiment to examine how different rules for re-selecting the leader of a group affects how that leader builds a winning coalition. Leaders play an inter-group game and then distribute winnings from that game within their group before standing for re-selection. The results of the experiment show that leaders of groups with large winning coalition systems rely heavily on distributing winnings through public goods, while leaders of groups with small winning coalition systems are more likely to target specific citizens with private goods. Furthermore, the experiment shows that supporters of small coalition leaders benefit from that support in future rounds by receiving more private goods than citizens that did not support the leader. Meanwhile, citizens that support a large coalition leader do not benefit from this support in future rounds. Therefore, small coalition leaders target individual citizens to maintain a coalition over time in a way not possible in a group with a large winning coalition. Finally, in the experiment, small coalition leaders increased their payoffs over time, suggesting that once power has been consolidated, small coalition leaders narrow their coalition.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Political Science Research and Methods , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , April 2017 , pp. 261 - 275
Copyright
© The European Political Science Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Andrew W. Bausch, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Institute for Politics and Strategy, Carnegie Mellon University ([email protected]). A draft of this paper was presented at the Midwest Political Science Association’s 2013 Annual Conference and in the SDS Lecture Series at Carnegie Mellon University. The author thanks Bernd Beber, Mik Laver, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Sarah Croco, John Miller, and Rebecca Morton for their helpful comments. Funding for this study was provided by a New York University, Department of Politics Data Gathering Grant. To view supplementary material for this article, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2015.63

References

Acemoglu, Daron, Egorov, Georgy, and Sonin, Konstantin. 2008. ‘Coalition Formation in Non-Democracies’. The Review of Economic Studies 75(4):987–1009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, Verdier, Thierry, and Robinson, James A.. 2004. ‘Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule’. Journal of the European Economic Association 2(2–3):162–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bausch, Andrew W. 2014. ‘An Experimental Test of Selectorate Theory’. International Interactions 40(4):533–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bausch, Andrew W. (forthcoming) ‘Democracy and War Effort: An Experiment’. Journal of Conflict Resolution, doi:10.1177/0022002715590876.Google Scholar
Beest, Ilja Van, Dijk, Eric Van, and Wilke, Henk. 2004. ‘Resources and Alternatives in Coalition Formation: The Effects on Payoff, Self-Serving Behaviour, and Bargaining Length’. European Journal of Social Psychology 34(6):713–728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belot, M., Miller, L., and Duch, R.. 2010. ‘Who Should Be Called to the Lab?’ Working Paper, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Institute for Advanced Social Studies of Andalusia, Córdoba, Spain.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Smith, Alastair, Siverson, Randolph M., and Morrow, James D.. 2005. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Morrow, James D., Siverson, Randolph M., and Smith, Alastair. 1999. ‘An Institutional Explanation of the Democratic Peace’. The American Political Science Review 93(4):791–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Morrow, James D., Siverson, Randolph M., and Smith, Alastair. 2004. ‘Testing Novel Implications from the Selectorate Theory of War’. World Politics 56(3):363–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, and Siverson, Randolph M.. 1995. ‘War and the Survival of Political Leaders: A Comparative Study of Regime Types and Political Accountability’. American Political Science Review 89(4):841–855.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fischbacher, Urs. 2007. ‘z-Tree: Zurich Toolbox for Ready-Made Economic Experiments’. Experimental Economics 10(2):171–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandhi, Jennifer, and Przeworski, Adam. 2006. ‘Cooperation, Cooptation, and Rebellion Under Dictatorships’. Economics & Politics 18(1):1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goemans, Hein E. 2008. ‘Which Way Out? The Manner and Consequences of Losing Office’. Journal of Conflict Resolution 52(6):771–794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafner-Burton, Emilie M., LeVeck, Brad L., Victor, David G., and Fowler, James H.. 2012. ‘Decision Maker Preferences for International Legal Cooperation’. International Organization 68(4):845–876.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahan, James P., and Rapoport, Amnon. 1984. ‘Theories of Coalition Formation’.Google Scholar
Karsh, Efraim, and Rautsi, Inari. 1991. Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Lankov, Andrei N. 2002. ‘Kim Takes Control: The “Great Purge” in North Korea, 1956–1960’. Korean Studies 26(1):87–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, Russell E. 2012. Institutions and the Politics of Survival in Jordan: Domestic Responses to External Challenges, 1988–2001. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Lust-Okar, Ellen. 2005. Structuring Conflict in the Arab World. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mintz, Alex, Redd, Steven B., and Vedlitz, Arnold. 2006. ‘Can We Generalize from Student Experiments to the Real World in Political Science, Military Affairs, and International Relations?’. Journal of Conflict Resolution 50(5):757–776.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrow, James D., Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Siverson, Randolph M., and Smith, Alastair. 2008. ‘Retesting Selectorate Theory: Separating the Effects of W from Other Elements of Democracy’. American Political Science Review 102(3):393–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, Rebecca B., and Williams, Kenneth C.. 2010. Experimental Political Science and the Study of Causality. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, Pamela. 1984. ‘Rewards and Punishments as Selective Incentives an Apex Game’. Journal of Conflict Resolution 28(1):123–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Przeworski, Adam. 1991. Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan W. 2009. ‘Power Sharing and Leadership Dynamics in Authoritarian Regimes’. American Journal of Political Science 53(2):477–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornhill, Michael T. 2004. ‘Britain, the United States and the Rise of an Egyptian Leader: The Politics and Diplomacy of Nassers Consolidation of Power, 1952:4’. The English Historical Review 119(483):892–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wintrobe, Ronald. 1998. The Political Economy of Dictatorship. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Bausch supplementary material

Appendix

Download Bausch supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 258.5 KB
Supplementary material: File

Bausch supplementary material

Bausch supplementary material

Download Bausch supplementary material(File)
File 24.7 KB