The Voter's Dilemma and Democratic Accountability: Explaining the Democracy-Development Paradox

The theory is tested through an examination of four prominent cases. A comparison of postwar Brazil and pre-Chavez Venezuela shows that clientelism debilitated both countries’ postwar development programs, despite Venezuela’s historically strong institutions and abundant oil revenues. Two comparisons—one between contemporary Brazil and pre-Chavez Venezuela, and another between postwar and contemporary Brazil—highlight factors that reduce the risks of rejecting clientelism as providing the best account of contemporary Brazil’s success. Finally, a comparison of pre-Chavez and contemporary Venezuela explains the continuity in flawed institutional and policy choices as a result of continuity in clientelistic politics driven by the voter’s dilemma