Environment, elections and expenditure: Analyses of where governments spend

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Abstract
Johnston R. J. (1977) Environment, elections and expenditure: analyses of where governments spend, Reg. Studies 11, 383–394. The growing literature concerned with spatial variations in levels of well-being pays little heed to the political influences on such patterns. Governments are major spenders within most countries, however, and their decisions are major determinants of ‘who gets what’. The argument presented here is that a crucial influence on where governments spend is the electoral contest for power. Tests of this hypothesis for American federal spending indicate its general validity and outline an important area for future research.