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...

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Main Authors:	Mvukiyehe, Eric, Samii, Cyrus
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	TERRORISM FREEDOM VOTE CHOICE VOTING RIGHTS MOTIVATION RIGHTS ELECTION OUTCOME ACCOUNTING PARTICIPANTS ORDINARY CITIZENS POLITICS INCOME LOYALTY GOVERNMENT UNITED NATIONS CITIZEN ACCESS POLITICAL RIGHTS POLITICIANS INFORMATION MONITORING POLITICAL ECONOMY EFFECTS INCENTIVES INTERNATIONAL PEACE LITERACY RATES POLITICAL LANDSCAPE ELECTORAL SYSTEMS CIVICS CIVIC EDUCATION ANARCHY PARTY MEMBERS COMMUNITY MEMBERS DICTATORIAL REGIMES POLITICAL PLURALISM QUEEN NATIONAL ELECTIONS ALLEGIANCE DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS TRAINING EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT POLITICAL BEHAVIOR ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION CIVIL SOCIETY DEMOCRACY CANDIDATES ATTRITION VOTER TURNOUT ELECTORAL INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONS POLICY ISSUES BALLOT BOX REPRESENTATIVES ACCESS TO INFORMATION ELECTIONS CONSTITUENTS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION POLICIES PARTICIPATION MOBILE PHONE VALUE PLURALISM POLITICAL SCIENCE POLITICAL CULTURE NATION CONSTITUENCIES ECONOMICS FREE PRESS DEMOCRACIES POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE CONSTITUENT COMMITTEES THEORY SECURITY POLITICAL INFORMATION ELECTORAL CHOICES LIBERTY PATRONAGE FORMS OF PARTICIPATION MONOPOLIES FACTIONS CRISES BANKING VOTING PARTICIPATION VARIABLES LAW VOTER PARTICIPATION FREEDOMS COLLECTIVE ACTION GOVERNMENTS OUTCOMES ELECTION POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PEACE INNOVATIONS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS POLITICAL DISCUSSION POLITICAL DEMOCRACY
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

id	okr-10986-22454
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-224542021-04-23T14:04:08Z Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia Mvukiyehe, Eric Samii, Cyrus TERRORISM FREEDOM VOTE CHOICE VOTING RIGHTS MOTIVATION RIGHTS ELECTION OUTCOME ACCOUNTING PARTICIPANTS ORDINARY CITIZENS POLITICS INCOME LOYALTY GOVERNMENT UNITED NATIONS CITIZEN ACCESS POLITICAL RIGHTS POLITICIANS INFORMATION MONITORING POLITICAL ECONOMY EFFECTS INCENTIVES INTERNATIONAL PEACE LITERACY RATES POLITICAL LANDSCAPE ELECTORAL SYSTEMS CIVICS CIVIC EDUCATION ANARCHY PARTY MEMBERS COMMUNITY MEMBERS DICTATORIAL REGIMES POLITICAL PLURALISM QUEEN NATIONAL ELECTIONS ALLEGIANCE DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS TRAINING EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT POLITICAL BEHAVIOR ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION CIVIL SOCIETY DEMOCRACY CANDIDATES ATTRITION VOTER TURNOUT ELECTORAL INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONS POLICY ISSUES BALLOT BOX REPRESENTATIVES ACCESS TO INFORMATION ELECTIONS CONSTITUENTS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION POLICIES PARTICIPATION MOBILE PHONE VALUE PLURALISM POLITICAL SCIENCE POLITICAL CULTURE NATION CONSTITUENCIES ECONOMICS FREE PRESS DEMOCRACIES POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE CONSTITUENT COMMITTEES THEORY SECURITY POLITICAL INFORMATION ELECTORAL CHOICES LIBERTY PATRONAGE FORMS OF PARTICIPATION MONOPOLIES FACTIONS CRISES BANKING VOTING PARTICIPATION VARIABLES LAW VOTER PARTICIPATION FREEDOMS COLLECTIVE ACTION GOVERNMENTS OUTCOMES ELECTION POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PEACE INNOVATIONS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS POLITICAL DISCUSSION POLITICAL DEMOCRACY 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. 2015-08-17T19:22:01Z 2015-08-17T19:22:01Z 2015-07 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/07/24784483/promoting-democracy-fragile-states-insights-field-experiment-liberia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22454 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7370 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Liberia
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English en_US
topic	TERRORISM FREEDOM VOTE CHOICE VOTING RIGHTS MOTIVATION RIGHTS ELECTION OUTCOME ACCOUNTING PARTICIPANTS ORDINARY CITIZENS POLITICS INCOME LOYALTY GOVERNMENT UNITED NATIONS CITIZEN ACCESS POLITICAL RIGHTS POLITICIANS INFORMATION MONITORING POLITICAL ECONOMY EFFECTS INCENTIVES INTERNATIONAL PEACE LITERACY RATES POLITICAL LANDSCAPE ELECTORAL SYSTEMS CIVICS CIVIC EDUCATION ANARCHY PARTY MEMBERS COMMUNITY MEMBERS DICTATORIAL REGIMES POLITICAL PLURALISM QUEEN NATIONAL ELECTIONS ALLEGIANCE DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS TRAINING EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT POLITICAL BEHAVIOR ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION CIVIL SOCIETY DEMOCRACY CANDIDATES ATTRITION VOTER TURNOUT ELECTORAL INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONS POLICY ISSUES BALLOT BOX REPRESENTATIVES ACCESS TO INFORMATION ELECTIONS CONSTITUENTS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION POLICIES PARTICIPATION MOBILE PHONE VALUE PLURALISM POLITICAL SCIENCE POLITICAL CULTURE NATION CONSTITUENCIES ECONOMICS FREE PRESS DEMOCRACIES POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE CONSTITUENT COMMITTEES THEORY SECURITY POLITICAL INFORMATION ELECTORAL CHOICES LIBERTY PATRONAGE FORMS OF PARTICIPATION MONOPOLIES FACTIONS CRISES BANKING VOTING PARTICIPATION VARIABLES LAW VOTER PARTICIPATION FREEDOMS COLLECTIVE ACTION GOVERNMENTS OUTCOMES ELECTION POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PEACE INNOVATIONS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS POLITICAL DISCUSSION POLITICAL DEMOCRACY
spellingShingle	TERRORISM FREEDOM VOTE CHOICE VOTING RIGHTS MOTIVATION RIGHTS ELECTION OUTCOME ACCOUNTING PARTICIPANTS ORDINARY CITIZENS POLITICS INCOME LOYALTY GOVERNMENT UNITED NATIONS CITIZEN ACCESS POLITICAL RIGHTS POLITICIANS INFORMATION MONITORING POLITICAL ECONOMY EFFECTS INCENTIVES INTERNATIONAL PEACE LITERACY RATES POLITICAL LANDSCAPE ELECTORAL SYSTEMS CIVICS CIVIC EDUCATION ANARCHY PARTY MEMBERS COMMUNITY MEMBERS DICTATORIAL REGIMES POLITICAL PLURALISM QUEEN NATIONAL ELECTIONS ALLEGIANCE DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS TRAINING EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT POLITICAL BEHAVIOR ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION CIVIL SOCIETY DEMOCRACY CANDIDATES ATTRITION VOTER TURNOUT ELECTORAL INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONS POLICY ISSUES BALLOT BOX REPRESENTATIVES ACCESS TO INFORMATION ELECTIONS CONSTITUENTS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION POLICIES PARTICIPATION MOBILE PHONE VALUE PLURALISM POLITICAL SCIENCE POLITICAL CULTURE NATION CONSTITUENCIES ECONOMICS FREE PRESS DEMOCRACIES POLITICAL AUTHORITY POLITICAL CHANGE CONSTITUENT COMMITTEES THEORY SECURITY POLITICAL INFORMATION ELECTORAL CHOICES LIBERTY PATRONAGE FORMS OF PARTICIPATION MONOPOLIES FACTIONS CRISES BANKING VOTING PARTICIPATION VARIABLES LAW VOTER PARTICIPATION FREEDOMS COLLECTIVE ACTION GOVERNMENTS OUTCOMES ELECTION POLITICAL LEADERS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION PEACE INNOVATIONS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS POLITICAL DISCUSSION POLITICAL DEMOCRACY Mvukiyehe, Eric Samii, Cyrus Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
geographic_facet	Africa Liberia
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7370
description	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.
format	Working Paper
author	Mvukiyehe, Eric Samii, Cyrus
author_facet	Mvukiyehe, Eric Samii, Cyrus
author_sort	Mvukiyehe, Eric
title	Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
title_short	Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
title_full	Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
title_fullStr	Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
title_full_unstemmed	Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia
title_sort	promoting democracy in fragile states : insights from a field experiment in liberia
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2015
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/07/24784483/promoting-democracy-fragile-states-insights-field-experiment-liberia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22454
_version_	1764451120179052544

Promoting Democracy in Fragile States : Insights from a Field Experiment in Liberia

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