Librería Portfolio

Throughout the world, voters lack access to information about politicians, government performance, and public services. Efforts to remedy these informational deficits are numerous. Yet do informational campaigns influence voter behavior and increase democratic accountability? Through the first project of the Metaketa Initiative, sponsored by the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) research network, this book aims to address this substantive question and at the same time introduce a new model for cumulative learning that increases coordination among otherwise independent researcher teams. It presents the overall results (using meta-analysis) from six independently conducted but coordinated field experimental studies, the results from each individual study, and the findings from a related evaluation of whether practitioners utilize this information as expected. It also discusses lessons learned from EGAP´s efforts to coordinate field experiments, increase replication of theoretically important studies across contexts, and increase the external validity of field experimental research.

Raises serious questions about when and how making voters more informed is likely to increase electoral accountability
Introduces a new model for producing cumulative research
Presents the results of seven planned field experimental studies of informational campaigns aimed at improving electoral accountability



Table of Contents

Part I. Information, Accountability, and a New Approach to Cumulative Learning:
1. Do informational campaigns promote electoral accountability? Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan D. Hyde, Craig McIntosh and Gareth Nellis
2. The Metaketa Initiative Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan D. Hyde and Craig McIntosh
3. Informational interventions: theory and measurement Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan D. Hyde, Craig McIntosh and Gareth Nellis
Part II. Field Experiments:
4. Under what conditions does performance information influence voting behavior? Lessons from Benin Claire Adida, Jessica Gottlieb, Eric Kramon and Gwyneth Mcclendon
5. When does information increase electoral accountability? Lessons from a field experiment in Mexico Eric Arias, Horacio Larreguy, John Marshall and Pablo Querubin
6. Candidate videos and vote choice in Ugandan parliamentary elections Melina R. Platas and Pia Raffler
7. Budgets, SMS texts, and votes in Uganda Mark T. Buntaine, Sarah S. Bush, Ryan Jablonski, Daniel L. Nielson and Paula M. Pickering
8. Performance-based voting in local elections: experimental evidence from Burkina Faso Malte Lierl and Marcus Holmlund
9. Horizontal but not vertical: accountability institutions and electoral sanctioning in Northeast Brazil Taylor C. Boas, F. Daniel Hidalgo and Marcus A. Melo
10. Dilemmas and challenges of citizen information campaigns: lessons from a failed experiment in India Neelanjan Sircar and Simon Chauchard
Part III. Cumulative Learning:
11. Meta-analysis Thad Dunning, Clara Bicalho, Anirvan Chowdhury, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan D. Hyde, Craig McIntosh and Gareth Nellis
12. Learning about cumulative learning: an experiment with policy practitioners Gareth Nellis, Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan D. Hyde, Craig McIntosh and Catlan Reardon
Part IV. Conclusion:
13. Challenges and opportunities Thad Dunning, Guy Grossman, Macartan Humphreys, Susan D. Hyde, Craig McIntosh and Gareth Nellis
Part V. End Matter:
14. Appendix: meta-preanalysis plan (MPAP)
15. References
Part VI. Online Appendix.