01951cam a22002657 4500001000700000003000500007005001700012008004100029100001900070245008400089260006600173490004200239500001800281520075400299530006101053538007201114538003601186690013901222690010801361700002201469710004201491830007701533856003801610856003701648w10248NBER20151006122632.0151006s2004 mau||||fs|||| 000 0 eng d1 aMurphy, Kevin.10aPersuasion in Politicsh[electronic resource] /cKevin Murphy, Andrei Shleifer. aCambridge, Mass.bNational Bureau of Economic Researchc2004.1 aNBER working paper seriesvno. w10248 aJanuary 2004.3 aWe present a model of the creation of social networks, such as political parties, trade unions, religious coalitions, or political action committees, through discussion and mutual persuasion among their members. The key idea is that people are influenced by those inside their network, but not by those outside. Once created, networks can be rented out' to politicians who seek votes and support for their initiatives and ideas, which may have little to do with network members' core beliefs. In this framework, political competition does not lead to convergence of party platforms to the views of the median voter. Rather, parties separate their messages and try to isolate their members to prevent personal influence from those in the opposition. aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers. aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. aMode of access: World Wide Web. 7aD72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior2Journal of Economic Literature class. 7aD78 - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation2Journal of Economic Literature class.1 aShleifer, Andrei.2 aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 0aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)vno. w10248.4 uhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w1024841uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w10248