Calvo and Murillo consider the non-policy benefits that voters consider when deciding their vote. While parties advertise policies, they also deliver non-policy benefits in the form of competent economic management, constituency service, and patronage jobs. Different from much of the existing research, which focuses on the implementation of policy or on the delivery of clientelistic benefits, this book provides a unified view of how politicians deliver broad portfolios of policy and non-policy benefits to their constituency. The authors' theory shows how these non-policy resources also shape parties' ideological positions and which type of electoral offers they target to poorer or richer voters. With exhaustive empirical work, both qualitative and quantitative, the research documents how linkages between parties and voters shape the delivery of non-policy benefits in Argentina and Chile.

'This complex and nuanced theory helps explain moderate party positions in Argentina and ideological differences in Chile. The level of analysis is impressive but requires readers to examine each part in detail. The summaries at the end of each chapter and the conclusion provide clear interpretations for those who are not familiar with the two countries or the types of statistical analyses.'

M. L. Godwin Source: Choice