Gilberto Seravalli

In the era of «small government», policy was considered the right way to conceive the role of the state in society and in the economy. This was intended as a perspective able to reduce the room for politics, considered a (dangerous) clash of power and party interests, and ideology. Given the current return of «big government», how does one deal with the unavoidable return of politics? In this paper we construct a model showing that politics should be considered purposely in a rational setting, to support effective policy, insofar as the state and its activities need substantial consensus. Key words: Politics, policy-making, local public goods, redistributive policies, elections. JEL Classification: D72, H40, H11.