Journal
JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
Volume 128, Issue 8, Pages 2880-2924Publisher
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS
DOI: 10.1086/706862
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Funding
- J-PAL Governance Initiative
- International Growth Centre
- National Bureau of Economic Research
- Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies
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Candidate debates have a rich history and remain integral to contemporary campaign strategy. There is, however, little evidence that they affect the behavior of voters or politicians. The scarcity of political information in the developing world offers an attractive testing ground. Using experimental variation in Sierra Leone, we find that public debate screenings build political knowledge that changes the way people vote, which induces a campaign expenditure response by candidates and fosters accountability pressure over the spending of elected officials. Results show how political communication can trigger a chain of events that begins with voters and ultimately influences policy.
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