Essays on Elections and Legislators ...

This dissertation investigates the relationship between elections and legislators’ behavior in democracies, focusing on the U.S. House of Representatives. The first chapter examines how electoral incentives influence representatives’ legislative activity and policy positions. Compiling data from 1954 to 2022, I compare legislators who win primaries and remain motivated for reelection to those who lose and exit the race. Through regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences designs, I find that primary losers significantly reduce effort-related activities, as evidenced by decreased roll-call participation, bill sponsorship, and voter communication. In contrast, the results show that legislators do not adjust policy positions for reelection; both winners and losers maintain consistent ideological and party-line adherence. These findings illuminate the scope of electoral incentives' effects and contribute to debates on electoral accountability and democratic representation. The second chapter explores ...