Delegating the distribution of intergovernmental grants to quasi-autonomous organizations does little to stop the influence of electoral politics

In many countries, public spending is often influenced by electoral considerations, such as using grants to ‘buy’ votes in swing districts, a practice which can often lead to inefficient spending. In response to concerns over such political influence, governments have designed quasi-autonomous organizations to implement intergovernmental grant programs in a politically neutral fashion. Using Infrastructure-Transport, a quasi-autonomous organization created by the Quebec government, as a case study, Kaddour Mehiriz finds that because of their close financial and administrative ties to the government, grant distribution in such organizations does not seem to be exempt from electoral politics.