Does electoral competition affect public goods provision in dominant-party regimes? Evidence from Tanzania

Does electoral competition improve public goods provision in dominant-party regimes? In such regimes, localized electoral competition does not threaten dominant parties' hold on power. Still, I argue that competition can promote improved local public goods provision because of the ruling party's desire to generate overwhelming governing majorities. Studying Tanzanian districts, I show that greater local electoral competition leads to substantially greater access to local public goods. Moreover, at least one important mechanism linking electoral competition to public goods outcomes is the dominant party's propensity to target more competitive districts with greater government resources. The findings demonstrate that, even in a country with imperfect elections characterized by single-party dominance, greater electoral competition can generate better public goods outcomes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.