Concept
Vote buying is a form of clientelism, exchanging private benefits rather than policies for votes. Schaffer (2007) showed it varies with culture, poverty and institutions, and it is common in neopatrimonial politics.
Under the secret ballot
Stokes (2005) argued parties monitor voters through local brokers, producing 'perverse accountability' in which voters answer to parties. Nichter (2008) argued 'turnout buying' of existing supporters is more common. Finan and Schechter (2012) showed reciprocity sustains vote buying, and Stokes and colleagues (2013) stressed brokers.
Measurement and responses
Gonzalez-Ocantos and colleagues (2012) found surveys greatly understate vote buying because of social desirability bias. Vicente (2014) showed an anti-vote-buying campaign in West Africa reduced its effect. Like rent-seeking, it is seen as degrading democratic quality.
FAQ
- What is vote buying in simple terms?
- Giving money or goods to get people's votes or get them to turn out.
- Why does it work despite the secret ballot?
- Through broker monitoring, reciprocity and buying turnout among supporters.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Schaffer, F. C. (Ed.). (2007). Elections for sale: The causes and consequences of vote buying. Lynne Rienner. Comparative cases of vote buying.
- Stokes, S. C. (2005). Perverse accountability: A formal model of machine politics with evidence from Argentina. American Political Science Review, 99(3), 315–325. Perverse accountability in machine politics.
- Nichter, S. (2008). Vote buying or turnout buying? Machine politics and the secret ballot. American Political Science Review, 102(1), 19–31. Turnout buying versus vote buying.
- Finan, F., & Schechter, L. (2012). Vote-buying and reciprocity. Econometrica, 80(2), 863–881. Reciprocity sustains vote buying.
- Gonzalez-Ocantos, E., de Jonge, C. K., Meléndez, C., Osorio, J., & Nickerson, D. W. (2012). Vote buying and social desirability bias: Experimental evidence from Nicaragua. American Journal of Political Science, 56(1), 202–217. Measurement bias in vote-buying surveys.
- Stokes, S. C., Dunning, T., Nazareno, M., & Brusco, V. (2013). Brokers, voters, and clientelism: The puzzle of distributive politics. Cambridge University Press. Brokers and clientelism.
- Vicente, P. C. (2014). Is vote buying effective? Evidence from a field experiment in West Africa. The Economic Journal, 124(574), F356–F387. Field experiment on anti-vote-buying campaigns.