Higher campaign costs are not necessarily bad for voters

The increasing cost of political campaigns and its impact on the electoral process are issues of paramount importance in modern democracies but higher campaign spending does not always hamper accountability, write Carlo Prato and Stephane Wolton. Drawing on recent research, they argue that when constituencies are biased towards a party, a higher campaign cost intensifies electoral competition, and is associated with a higher level of constituency service. Costly campaigns can thus have a rebalancing effect that improves electoral accountability.