When tax shares can be included in political platforms, there will be a bias toward more government spending. This bias is the result of the fact that demand curves slope downward. Political parties can compete for votes by offering pivotal voters lower tax shares, but when they do, a lower...

As federal government expenditures have grown, there has been an increasing awareness of the distribution of taxes and expenditures across states. States in the Northeast have claimed that sunbelt states have been getting more than their fair share of federal spending, with the sunbelt states...

Seniority conveys political power to legislators despite the fact that all legislators have equally valuable voting power. What prevents a coalition of junior members from exercising their political power to form a coalition and claim an equal share of the power by eliminating the benefits of...