We use new annual data on gasoline taxes and corporate income from U.S. states to analyze whether politicians avoid tax increases in election years. These contain 3 useful attributes: (1) when state enact laws, (2) implement laws consumers firms, (3) the size of changes. Using a pre-analysis research plan that includes regressions rate changes enactment years time-to-gubernatorial year i...

Politicians learning about public opinion and responding to their resulting perceptions is one key way via which responsive policy-making comes about. Despite the strong normative importance of politicians’ understanding opinion, empirical evidence on how politicians learn these opinions in first place scant. Drawing survey data collected from almost 900 incumbent five countries, this study pre...