Candidate Entry and Political Polarization: An Anti-Median Voter Theorem

Abstract

We study a candidate entry model with private information about ideal points. We fully characterize the unique symmetric equilibrium of the entry game, and show that only relatively "extreme" citizen types enter the electoral competition as candidates, whereas more "moderate" types never enter. It generally leads to a substantial political polarization, even when the electorate is not polarized and citizens understand that they vote for more extreme candidates. Our results are robust with respect to changes in the implementation of a default policy if no citizen runs for office. We show that polarization increases in the costs of entry and the degree of risk aversion, and decreases in the benefits from holding office. Finally, we provide a simple limiting characterization pf the unique symmetric equilibrium when the number of citizens goes to infinity. In the limit, only the very most extreme citizens, with ideal points at the boundary of the policy space, become candidates.

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