Abstract

PEREZ-MUNOZ, Cristian  and  RUSTOM, Cristián. How Should Legislators Determine their Salary Level?. Polít. gob [online]. 2016, vol.23, n.2, pp.305-329. ISSN 1665-2037.

How should legislators determine their salary level? After analyzing the arguments in favor of different salary-setting mechanisms, we argue that there are good normative reasons to favor those salary-setting methods that partially limit legislators' capacity to set their own salary. While we favor a middle way between unrestricted and completely restricted salary-settings mechanisms, we show that this path is not unique. Different partially restricted salary-setting mechanisms have substantially diverse policy implications. In particular, we argue that it is desirable to favor those salary-setting mechanisms that are able to attract high-quality citizens to run for office but that at the same time promote moderation in the magnitude of the salary adjustments.

Keywords : legislators' salary; salary-setting mechanisms; democratic theory.

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