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Replication Data for: Greater Expectations: A Field Experiment to Improve Accountability in Mali

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Replication Data for: Greater Expectations: A Field Experiment to Improve Accountability in Mali
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/29040
 
Creator Gottlieb, Jessica
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description I argue that if citizens systematically underestimate what their government can and should do for them, then they will hold politicians to a lower standard and sanction poor performers less often. A field experiment across 95 localities in Mali in which randomly assigned localities receive a civics course identifies the effect of raising voter expectations of government on their willingness to hold leaders accountable. The course provides information about local government capacity and responsibility as well as how local politicians perform relative to others, effectively raising voter expectations of what local governments can and should do. Survey experiments among individuals in treated and control communities (N=5,560) suggest that people in treated villages are indeed more likely to sanction poor performers and vote based on performance more often. A behavioral outcome -“ the likelihood that villagers challenge local leaders at a town hall meeting - adds external validity to survey findings.
 
Subject Social Sciences
Government accountability
Voting behavior
Field experiments
 
Contributor Jessica Gottlieb
 
Type Household surveys and observations at town hall meetings