ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some ideas empirically by analyzing the relationship between electoral institutions and various indicators the authour argues that are reflective of elite extraction. We will see that countries with proportional/multiparty systems tend to have significantly lower levels of inequality, lower rates of obesity, and higher levels of alternative energy usage than countries with less proportional/fewer-party systems. The chapter discusses several other policy areas where the extractive dynamics are likely at work, but that are more difficult to explore statistically mainly because of deficiencies in cross-national data for these indicators. It argues that the relationship between electoral institutions and environmental protection is also in part explained by the mechanism of elite extraction. The extraction dynamics described here are likely applicable to many other areas of policy that are a little more challenging to explore statistically, but also worth mentioning.
