Direct Democracy and Resource Allocation : Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan

Direct Democracy and Resource Allocation : Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan

Direct democracy is designed to better align public resource allocation decisions with citizen preferences. Using a randomized field experiment in 250 villages across Afghanistan, this paper compares outcomes of secret-ballot referenda with those o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Beath, Andrew, Christia, Fotini, Enikolopov, Ruben
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
ACCOUNTABILITY
BENEFICIARY ASSESSMENTS
BRIDGE PROJECT
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
COMMUNITIES
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
CONSENSUS
CONSULTATION
CONSULTATIONS
COUNTRYSIDE
DATA COLLECTION
DECISION MAKING
DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
DECISIONMAKING
DEMOCRACY
DIRECT DEMOCRACY
DISTRICT LEVEL
DISTRICTS
DRINKING WATER
ELECTION
ELECTIONS
ELIGIBLE VOTERS
EQUALITY
FEMALE
FEMALES
FIELD EXPERIMENT
FOCUS GROUP
GENDER
HOUSEHOLDS
INTEREST GROUPS
INTERVENTION
INTERVENTIONS
INTERVIEWS
LINE MINISTRIES
LIVESTOCK
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
LOCAL PARTICIPATION
MEDICAL SERVICES
POLICY STUDIES
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
POLITICAL PROCESSES
POWER-HOLDERS
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
PUBLIC POLICY
RECONSTRUCTION
RURAL AREAS
RURAL COMMUNITIES
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
RURAL POPULATION
SHEEP
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
SOCIAL PROTECTION
SUFFRAGE
VILLAGE
VILLAGE LEVEL
VILLAGE MEETINGS
VILLAGER
VILLAGERS
VILLAGES
YOUTH
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/07/16506743/direct-democracy-resource-allocation-experimental-evidence-afghanistan
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11946
Description
Summary:Direct democracy is designed to better align public resource allocation decisions with citizen preferences. Using a randomized field experiment in 250 villages across Afghanistan, this paper compares outcomes of secret-ballot referenda with those of consultation meetings, which adhere to customary decision-making practices. Elites are found to exert influence over meeting outcomes, but not over referenda outcomes, which are driven primarily by citizen preferences. Referenda are also found to improve public satisfaction, whereas elite domination of allocation processes has a negative effect. The results indicate that the use of direct democracy in public resource allocation results in more legitimate outcomes than those produced by customary processes.

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