Õ¬ÄÐÊÓƵ

Vote buying is a widespread electoral practice in many parts of the world, especially in developing democracies. While political scientists have extensively studied the conditions under which this practice is more likely to occur, less is known about whether and how vote buying impacts political recruitment and representation. While vote buying is often heavily stigmatised, the theory suggests that under certain conditions vote buying endows candidates with an aura of prowess and electoral strength, which, in turn, improves their electoral viability. Does this pattern also apply to candidates from underrepresented minorities, or are these candidates differently punished for resorting to vote buying? This question has important implications for the literature of clientelism and electoral behaviour, as well as for the electoral viability (and, thus, representation) of politically marginalised groups. The current project proposes to answer this question through the employment of an original survey experiment with Brazilian voters.

Dr Malu Gatto is Lecturer in Latin American Politics at UCL Institute of the Americas. is Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College, Oxford, We warmly congratulate them on their successful joint bid.