The electoral consequences of institutional failure: A comparative study of audits, rulers, and voters in Swedish municipalities

Abstract

Electoral accountability is widely considered an essential element for ascertaining institutional quality. Nevertheless, and contrary to this notion, a growing body of empirical research finds weak or limited support for the notion that voters actually punish political corruption, a central but partial aspect of institutional quality. Instead, I introduce the concept of institutional performance voting, capturing institutional quality as a whole. Using a novel dataset on performance audit reports in Swedish municipalities, I find that voters punish mayoral parties responsible for institutional dysfunction.