"A remarkable study, one that is provocative and concise, sometimes brazen in its theoretical assumptions and assertions, laced throughout with elegance and wit. Amid the vast outpouring of contemporary social science, (this) truly is a book for all seasons, important to every scholar interested in the relationship of elections, government, and public policy."--American Political Science Review "Of late, a growing number of political scientists and economists have been attempting to see if there is a relationship, here and abroad, between the 'political cycle' (that is, periodic elections) and the business cycle (the ups and downs of various measures of economic well-being). The most recent, lucid, and comprehensive of these studies is the brilliant book by Edward R. Tufte."--James Q. Wilson, Commentary "Will nourish political junkies everywhere.Read it. It's short, jargon-free, readable, informative, and free of ideological axes, which is saying a lot for a book about the 'dismal science.' "--Mark Green, Washington Post Book World "A theoretically elegant and methodologically sophisticated analysis of the systematic linkage between national politics and macroeconomic policies in the world's major democracies.This is political science at its best."--Choice "[A] crisp and convincing study of perhaps the central issue in the political economy of major democratic societies today."--Foreign Affairs