Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T05:19:13.581Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transparency, Class Bias, and Redistribution: Evidence from the American States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Alexander Severson
Alexander Severson*
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
*
Alexander Severson, Department of Political Science, Florida State University, 600 W. College Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32303, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study employs state-level panel data between 1978 and 2000 to explore the relationship between transparency, media market penetration, class bias in voter participation, and welfare effort in the United States. I present empirical evidence that the effect of transparency—operationalized as state fiscal transparency—on state welfare effort is conditional on class bias in voter participation. Specifically, I present evidence that in states where transparency and class bias increased over time, state welfare effort significantly declined. These results are robust to the inclusion of controls for other determinants of redistribution that traditionally vary with geography such as governor partisanship, legislator ideology, citizen ideology, gross state product (GSP), and state demographic characteristics, and are robust across several alternate model specifications. My findings suggest that increased transparency does not automatically improve the condition of socioeconomically-disadvantaged citizens and that transparency may have welfare-reducing effects in societies with increasing participatory gulfs between the most and least advantaged citizens.

Keywords

transparencywelfareinequalitypanel data
Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 271 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018

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.)

References

Albritton, Robert. 1990. “Social Services: Welfare and Health.” In Politics in the American States, 5th ed., eds. Gray, Virginia, Jacob, Herbert, and Albritton, Robert. Glenview: Scott, Foresman/Little, Brown, 411–446.Google Scholar
Allison, Paul D. 2009. Fixed Effects Regression Models. Vol. 160. SAGE Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alt, James E., Lassen, David Dreyer, and Rose, Shanna. 2006. “The Causes of Fiscal Transparency: Evidence from the U.S. States.” IMF Staff Papers 53:30–57.Google Scholar
Alt, James E., and Lowry, Robert C.. 2010. “Transparency and Accountability: Empirical Results for US States.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 22 (4): 379–406..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arellano, Manuel, and Bond, Stephen. 1991. “Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations.” The Review of Economic Studies 58 (2): 277–97..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrilleaux, Charles, Holbrook, Thomas, and Langer, Laura. 2002. “Electoral Competition, Legislative Balance, and American State Welfare Policy.” American Journal of Political Science 46:415–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, Brandon L. 2008. ‘Beyond “Fixed versus Random Effects”: A Framework for Improving Substantive and Statistical Analysis of Panel, Time-Series Cross-Sectional, and Multilevel Data’. Paper presented at the Political Methodology Conference. Ann Arbor, MI. 9-12 July. http://home.gwu.edu/,bartels/cluster.pdf.Google Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel L. 2001. “Time-Series-Cross-Section Data: What Have We Learned in the Past Few Years?” Annual Review of Political Science 4 (1): 271–93..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, Andrew, and Jones, Kelvyn. 2015. “Explaining Fixed Effects: Random Effects Modeling of Time-Series Cross-Sectional and Panel Data.” Political Science Research and Methods 3 (1): 133–53..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertot, John Carlo, Jaeger, Paul T., Langa, Lesley A., and McClure, Charles R.. 2006a. “Drafted: I Want You to Deliver e-Government.” Library Journal 131 (13): 34–37..Google Scholar
Bertot, John Carlo, Jaeger, Paul T., Langa, Lesley A., and McClure, Charles R.. 2006b. “Public Access Computing and Internet Access in Public Libraries: The Role of Public Libraries in e-Government and Emergency Situations.” First Monday 11 (9). http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/bertot/S (Accessed August 1, 2017).Google Scholar
Besley, Timothy. 2006. Principled Agents? The Political Economy of Good Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Binder, Sarah A., and Lee, Frances E.. 2015. “Making Deals in Congress.” In Political Negotiation: A Handbook, eds. Mansbridge, Jane, and Martin, Cathie Jo Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 54–72.Google Scholar
Blakely, Tony A., Kennedy, Bruce P., and Kawachi, Ichiro. 2001. “Socioeconomic Inequality in Voting Participation and Self-Rated Health.” American Journal of Public Health 91 (1): 99–104..Google ScholarPubMed
Bobo, Lawrence. 1991. “Social Responsibility, Individualism, and Redistributive Policies.” Sociological Forum 6(1): 71–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnett, Gary, Jaeger, Paul T., and Thompson, Kim M.. 2008. “Normative Behavior and Information: The Social Aspects of Information Access.” Library Information Science Research 30 (1): 56–66..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, Ernesto. 2007. “The Responsive Legislature: Public Opinion and Law Making in a Highly Disciplined Legislature.” British Journal of Political Science 37 (2): 263–80..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Case, Anne C., Rosen, Harvey S., and Hines, James R.. 1993. “Budget Spillovers and Fiscal Policy Interdependence: Evidence from the States.” Journal of Public Economics 52 (3): 285–307..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Druckman, James N. 2005. “Media Matter: How Newspapers and Television News Cover Campaigns and Influence Voters.” Political Communication 22 (4): 463–81..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dugdale, Anni, Daly, Anne, Papandrea, Franco, and M., Maria Maley 2005. “Accessing e-Government: Challenges for Citizens and Organizations.” International Review of Administrative Sciences 71 (1): 109–18..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dye, Thomas R. 1984. “Party and Policy in the States.” The Journal of Politics 46 (4): 1097–1116..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferejohn, John. 1999. “Accountability and Authority: Towards a Model of Political Accountability.” In Democracy, Accountability, and Representation, eds. Przeworski, Adam, Manin, Bernard, and Stokes, Susan C.. New York: Cambridge University Press, 131–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Jonathan. 2007. “The Uncertain Relationship between Transparency and Accountability.” Development in Practice 17 (5): 663–71..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franko, William W., Kelly, Nathan J., and Witko, Christopher. 2016. “Class Bias in Voter Turnout, Representation, and Income Inequality.” Perspectives on Politics 14 (2): 351–68..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaventa, John, and McGee, Rosemary. 2013. “The Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives.” Development Policy Review 31:3–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilens, Martin, and Page, Benjamin I.. 2014. “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.” Perspectives on Politics 12 (3): 564–81..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guillaud, Elvire. 2013. “Preferences for Redistribution: An Empirical Analysis over 33 Countries.” The Journal of Economic Inequality 11(1): 57–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurria, Angel. 2017. “Bribery and Corruption—OECD, Openness and Transparency.” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, June 1.Google Scholar
Hacker, Jacob S., and Pierson, Paul. 2010. “Winner-Take-All Politics: Public Policy, Political Organization, and the Precipitous Rise of Top Incomes in the United States.” Politics Society 38 (2): 152–204..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hainmueller, Jens, Mummolo, Jonathan, and Xu, Yiqing. 2018. “How Much Should We Trust Estimates from Multiplicative Interaction Models? Simple Tools to Improve Empirical Practice.” Political Analysis. In press. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2739221CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haley, Kevin J., and Fessler, Daniel M. T.. 2005. “Nobody's Watching? Subtle Cues Affect Generosity in an Anonymous Economic Game.” Evolution & Human Behavior 26 (3): 245–56..Google Scholar
Hoechle, Daniel 2007. “Robust Standard Errors for Panel Regressions with Cross-Sectional Dependence.” Stata Journal 7 (3): 281–312..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollyer, James R., Peter Rosendorff, B., and Vreeland, James R.. 2011. “Democracy and Transparency.” The Journal of Politics 73 (4): 1191–1205..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, Lawrence R., and Soss, Joe. 2010. “The Politics of Inequality in America: A Political Economy Framework.” Annual Review of Political Science 13:341–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaeger, Paul T., and Bertot, John C.. 2010. “Transparency and Technological Change: Ensuring Equal and Sustained Public Access to Government Information.” Government Information Quarterly 27 (4): 371–76..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, Edward T. 1979. “Competition, Constituencies, and Welfare Policies in American States.” American Political Science Review 73 (2): 414–29..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufmann, Daniel, Mastruzzi, Massimo, and Zavaleta, Diego. 2002. “Sustained Macroeconomic Reforms, Tepid Growth: A Governance Puzzle in Bolivia?” The World Bank, Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keohane, Robert O., and Nye, Joseph S.. 2003. “Redefining Accountability for Global Governance.” In Governance in a Global Economy: Political Authority in Transition, eds. Kahler, Miles, and Lake, David. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 386–411.Google Scholar
Kim, Pan S., Halligan, John, Namshin, Cho, Oh, Cheol H., and Eikenberry, Angela M.. 2005. “Toward Participatory and Transparent Governance: Report on the Sixth Global Forum on Reinventing Government.” Public Administration Review 65 (6): 646–54..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kolstad, Ivar, and Wiig, Arne. 2016. “Does Democracy Reduce Corruption?” Democratization 23 (7): 1198–1215..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindstedt, Catharina, and Naurin, Daniel. 2010. “Transparency Is Not Enough: Making Transparency Effective in Reducing Corruption.” International Political Science Review 31 (3): 301–22..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livingstone, Sonia, and Markham, Tim. 2008. “The Contribution of Media Consumption to Civic Participation.” The British Journal of Sociology 59 (2): 351–71..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lowi, Theodore. 1969. The End of Liberalism. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Malesky, Edmund, Schuler, Paul, and Tran, Anh. 2012. “The Adverse Effects of Sunshine: A Field Experiment on Legislative Transparency in an Authoritarian Assembly.” American Political Science Review 106 (4): 762–86..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malena, Carmen, Forster, Reiner, and Singh, Janmejay. 2004. “Social Accountability: An Introduction to the Concept and Emerging Practice”. Social Development Paper 76, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane. 2009. “A Selection Model of Political Representation.” Journal of Political Philosophy 17 (4): 369–98..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Paul S. 2003. “Voting's Rewards: Voter Turnout, Attentive Publics, and Congressional Allocation of Federal Money.” American Journal of Political Science 47 (1): 110–27..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayhew, David R. 1974. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
McConnell, Grant. 1966. Private Power and American Democracy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
McGee, Rosie, and Gaventa, John. 2011. “Shifting Power? Assessing the Impact of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives.” IDS Working Papers 383. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meijer, Albert. 2014. “Transparency.” In The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability, eds. Boven, Mark, and Goodin, Robert. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Meltzer, Allan H., and Richard, Scott F.. 1981. “A Rational Theory of the Size of Government.” Journal of Political Economy 89 (5): 914–27..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohtadi, Hamid, and Roe, Terry L.. 2003. “Democracy, Rent Seeking, Public Spending and Growth.” Journal of Public Economics 87 (3): 445–66..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nam, Taewoo, and Sayogo, Djoko Sigit. 2011. “Who Uses e-Government? Examining the Digital Divide in e-Government Use.” In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV'11), ACM, New York, 27-36.Google Scholar
Obama, Barack. 2007. “Press Release - Obama Pledges Most Transparent and Accountable Administration in History.” The American Presidency Project, 15 Aug. 2007, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=93244 (Accessed August 10, 2017).Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2016. “Are There Differences in How Advantaged and Disadvantaged Students Use the Internet?” PISA in Focus No. 64. Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Peisakhin, Leonid, and Pinto, Paul. 2010. “Is Transparency an Effective Anti-corruption Strategy? Evidence from a Field Experiment in India.” Regulation & Governance 4 (3): 261–80..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, Yvette, and Ensink, Sander J.. 2015. “Differential Responsiveness in Europe: The Effects of Preference Difference and Electoral Participation.” West European Politics 38 (3): 577–600..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piketty, Thomas. 1995. “Social Mobility and Redistributive Politics.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 110(3): 551–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piketty, Thomas, and Saez, Emmanuel. 2003. “Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 118 (1): 1–41..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piven, Frances F. 2006. Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Plumper, Thomas, and Troeger, Vera E.. 2007. “Efficient Estimation of Time-Invariant and Rarely Changing Variables in Finite Sample Panel Analyses with Unit Fixed Effects.” Political Analysis 15:124–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinikka, Ritva, and Svensson, Jakob. 2004. “The Power of Information: Evidence from a Newspaper Campaign to Reduce Capture.” Policy Research Working Paper No. 3239. World Bank, Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose-Ackerman, Susan. 2005. “Governance and Corruption.” In Global Crises, Global Solutions, ed. Bjorn Lomborg. Cambridge University Press, 301-362.Google Scholar
Ross, Michael. 2006. “Is Democracy Good for the Poor?” American Journal of Political Science 50 (4): 860–74..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schattschneider, Elmer E. 1960. The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Shi, Min, and Svensson, Jakob. 2003. “Political Budget Cycles: A Review of Recent Developments.” Nordic Journal of Political Economy 29 (1): 67–76..Google Scholar
Skrondal, Anders, and Rabe-Hesketh, Sophia. 2004. Generalized Latent Variable Modeling: Multilevel, Longitudinal, and Structural Equation Models. Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solt, Frederick. 2008. “Economic Inequality and Democratic Political Engagement.” American Journal of Political Science 52 (1): 48–60..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soss, Joe, and Jacobs, Lawrence R.. 2009. “The Place of Inequality: Non-participation in the American Polity.” Political Science Quarterly 124 (1): 95–125..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph. 2001. “Transparency in Government, in the Right to Tell: The Role of Mass Media in Economic Development.” World Bank, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Strolovitch, Dara Z. 2006. “Do Interest Groups Represent the Disadvantaged? Advocacy at the Intersections of Race, Class, and Gender.” The Journal of Politics 68 (4): 894–910..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisné, Martin. 2010. “Transparency, Participation and Accountability: Definitions”. Unpublished Background Note for Transparency and Accountability Initiative. Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
Verba, Sidney, Schlozman, Kay L., and Brady, Henry. 1995. Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wichowsky, Amber. 2012. “Competition, Party Dollars, and Income Bias in Voter Turnout, 1980–2008.” The Journal of Politics 74 (2): 446–59..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. 2015. Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach. Scarborough, ON: Nelson Education.Google Scholar
Zorn, Christopher. 2001. “Estimating Between- and Within-Cluster Covariate Effects, with an Application to Models of International Disputes.” International Interactions 27:433–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Severson supplementary material

Appendix

Download Severson supplementary material(File)
File 63.9 KB