Center for Effective Global Action

Political checks and balances make different organs of government complementary in the exercise of power. We study how a party organization can seek and abuse these comple-mentarities to expand its influence. We combine data from the Indian state of West Bengal on elections across different levels of government. These are matched to 300 million pay-ments from a welfare scheme that requires approval from both state and local governments. Using a multidimensional close election design, we study the consequences of co-partisan alignment between these two tiers. The state government gives disproportionate funding to co-partisan local officials, who target core supporters to raise votes for co-partisan national candidates. Local officials are rewarded through diverted welfare payments, including a per-formance bonus immediately after the national election. The ruling party expands its power by recruiting opposition candidates in strategically important local councils, bringing even greater control over public funds.