Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
A field experiment in rural Liberia is used to study democratic participation in fragile states. Fragile states are marked by political fragmentation, local patronage systems, and voter vulnerability. To understand the effects of such conditions on...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/07/24784483/promoting-democracy-fragile-states-insights-field-experiment-liberia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22454 |
| Summary: | A field experiment in rural Liberia is
used to study democratic participation in fragile states.
Fragile states are marked by political fragmentation, local
patronage systems, and voter vulnerability. To understand
the effects of such conditions on democratic expression
through elections, the experiment introduced new forms of
interaction between rural citizens and third-party actors:
(i) civic education and town hall workshops directed by
non-governmental organizations in communities over nine
months and (ii) security committees that brought rural
community representatives into monthly exchange with United
Nations peacekeepers. Civic education workshops increased
enthusiasm for electoral participation, produced a
coordinated shift from parochial to national candidates, and
increased willingness to report on manipulation. A program
combining the two interactions had similar effects. The
security committees had negligible effects. Barriers to
political information and voter coordination appear to be
important but resolvable problems for elections in fragile states. |
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