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

Mvukiyehe, Eric ; Samii, Cyrus

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: TERRORISM;    FREEDOM;    VOTE CHOICE;    VOTING RIGHTS;    MOTIVATION;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7370
RP-ID  :  WPS7370

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

A field experiment in rural Liberia isused to study democratic participation in fragile states.Fragile states are marked by political fragmentation, localpatronage systems, and voter vulnerability. To understandthe effects of such conditions on democratic expressionthrough elections, the experiment introduced new forms ofinteraction between rural citizens and third-party actors:(i) civic education and town hall workshops directed bynon-governmental organizations in communities over ninemonths and (ii) security committees that brought ruralcommunity representatives into monthly exchange with UnitedNations peacekeepers. Civic education workshops increasedenthusiasm for electoral participation, produced acoordinated shift from parochial to national candidates, andincreased willingness to report on manipulation. A programcombining the two interactions had similar effects. Thesecurity committees had negligible effects. Barriers topolitical information and voter coordination appear to beimportant but resolvable problems for elections in fragile states.