Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T06:28:52.220Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Elections and Collective Action: Evidence from Changes in Traditional Institutions in Liberia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2015

Kate Baldwin  and
Eric Mvukiyehe

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Numerous recent field and laboratory experiments find that elections cause higher subsequent levels of collective action within groups. This article questions whether effects observed in these novel environments apply when traditional institutions are democratized. The authors test the external validity of the experimental findings by examining the effects of introducing elections in an indigenous institution in Liberia. They use a break in the process of selecting clan chiefs at the end of Liberia’s civil wars to identify the effects of elections on collective action within communities. Drawing on survey data and outcomes from behavioral games, the authors find that the introduction of elections for clan chiefs has little effect on community-level and national-level political participation but that it increases contentious collective action and lowers levels of contributions to public goods. These findings provide an important counterpoint to the experimental literature, suggesting that elections have less salutary effects on collective action when they replace customary practices.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 67 , Issue 4 , October 2015 , pp. 690 - 725
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 2015 

References

Acemoğlu, Daron, Reed, Tristan, and Robinson, James. 2014. “Chiefs: Economic Development and Elite Control of Civil Society in Sierra Leone.” Journal of Political Economy 122, no. 2: 319–68.Google Scholar
Alexandre, Pierre. 1970 [1959]. “The Problems of Chieftaincies in French Speaking Africa.” In Crowder, Michael and Ikime, Obaro, eds., West African Chiefs: Their Changing Status under Colonial Rule and Independence. New York, N.Y.: Africana Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Angrist, Joshua, and Pischke, Jorn-Steffen. 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldassarri, Delia, and Grossman, Guy. 2011. “Centralized-Sanctioning and Legitimate Authority Promote Cooperation in Humans.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, no. 27: 11023–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baldwin, Kate. 2013. “Why Vote with the Chief? Political Connections and Public Goods Provision in Zambia.” American Journal of Political Science 57, no. 4: 794–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, Kate. Forthcoming. “Hereditary Rule in Democratic Africa: Reconciling Citizens and Chiefs.” In Ndulo, Muna, ed., Elections, Accountability and Democratic Governance in Africa. Oxford, U.K.: James Currey.Google Scholar
Baldwin, Kate, and Eric Mvukiyehe. 2015. Supplementary Material. At http://dx.doi.org.10.1017/S0043887115000210.Google Scholar
Beath, Andrew, Christia, Fotini, and Enikolopov, Ruben. 2013a. “Direct Democracy and Resource Allocation: Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan.” CEFIR/NES Working Paper No. 192. Moscow, Russia: Center for Economic and Financial Research.Google Scholar
Beath, Andrew, Christia, Fotini, and Enikolopov, Ruben. 2013b. “Democratization, Division of Responsibilities and Governance Quality: Experimental Evidence on Local Institutions in Afghanistan.” Working Paper. Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Beath, Andrew, Christia, Fotini, and Enikolopov, Ruben. 2013c. “Empowering Women through Development Aid.” American Political Science Review 107, no. 3: 540–57.Google Scholar
Bellows, John, and Miguel, Edward. 2006. “War and Institutions: New Evidence from Sierra Leone.” American Economic Review 96, no. 2: 394–99.Google Scholar
Blair, Robert. 2013. “Peacebuilding and State Legitimacy: Evidence from Two Lab-in-the-Field Experiments in Liberia.” Working Paper. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University.Google Scholar
Blattman, Christopher. 2009. “From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda.” American Political Science Review 103, no. 2: 231–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, Geoffrey, and Pettit, Philip. 1990. “Unveiling the Vote.” British Journal of Political Science 20, no. 3: 311–33.Google Scholar
Boettke, Peter, Coyne, Christopher, and Leeson, Peter. 2008. “Institutional Stickiness and the New Development Economics.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 67, no. 2: 331–58.Google Scholar
Busia, Kofi Abrefa. 1951. The Position of the Chief in the Modern Political System of Ashanti: The Infuence of Contemporary Social Changes on Ashanti Political Institutions. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Casey, Katherine, Glennerster, Rachel, and Miguel, Edward. 2012. “Reshaping Institutions: Evidence on Aid Impacts Using a Pre-Analysis Plan.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 127, no. 4: 1755–1812.Google Scholar
Clayton, Amanda. 2014. “Electoral Gender Quotas and Attitudes toward Traditional Leaders: A Policy Experiment in Lesotho.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 33, no. 4: 1007–26.Google Scholar
Cornell, Stephen, and Kalt, Joseph. 2000. “Where’s the Glue? Institutional and Cultural Foundations of American Indian Economic Development.” Journal of Socio-Economics 29, no. 5: 443–70.Google Scholar
Dal Bó, Pedro, Foster, Andrew, and Putterman, Louis. 2010. “Institutions and Behavior: Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Democracy.” American Economic Review 100, no. 5: 2205–29.Google Scholar
Dionne, Kim. 2011. “The Role of Executive Time Horizons in State Responses to Aids in Africa.” Comparative Political Studies 44, no. 1: 55–77.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York, N.Y.: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Ellis, Stephen. 1999. The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War. London, UK: Hurst and Company.Google Scholar
Englebert, Pierre. 2000. State Legitimacy and Development in Africa. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ertan, Arhan, Page, Talbot, and Putterman, Louis. 2005. “Can Endogenously Chosen Institutions Mitigate the Free-Rider Problem and Reduce Perverse Punishment?” Brown University Department of Economics Working Paper 2005-13. Providence, R.I.: Brown University.Google Scholar
Fearon, James. 1999. “Electoral Accountability and the Control of Politicians: Selecting Good Types versus Sanctioning Poor Performance.” In Manin, Bernard, Przeworski, Adam, and Stokes, Susan, eds., Democracy, Accountability and Representation. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Fearon, James, Humphreys, Macartan, and Weinstein, Jeremy. 2009. “Can Development Aid Contribute to Social Cohesion after Civil War? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Post-Confict Liberia.” American Economic Review 99, no. 2: 287–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James, Humphreys, Macartan, and Weinstein, Jeremy. Forthcoming. “Democratic Institutions and Collective Action Capacity: Results from a Field Experiment in Post-Confict Liberia.” American Political Science Review.Google Scholar
Giuliano, Paola, and Nunn, Nathan. 2013. “The Transmission of Democracy: From the village to the Nation-State.” American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 103, no. 3: 86–92.Google Scholar
Grossman, Guy. 2014. “Do Selection Rules Affect Leader Responsiveness? Evidence from Uganda.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 9, no. 1: 1–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, Guy, and Baldassarri, Delia. 2012. “The Impact of Elections on Cooperation: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Uganda.” American Journal of Political Science 56, no. 4: 964–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horowitz, Donald. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Confict. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Humphreys, Macartan, Sierra, Raul Sanchez de la, and Windt, Peter van der. 2012. “Social and Economic Impacts of Tuungane.” Final Policy Report. New York, N.Y.: Columbia University.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kling, Jeffrey, Liebman, Jeffrey, and Katz, Lawrence. 2007. “Experimental analysis of Neighborhood Effects.” Econometrica 75, no. 1: 83–119.Google Scholar
Koter, Dominika. 2013. “King Makers: Local Leaders and Ethnic Politics in Africa.” World Politics 65, no. 2: 187–232.Google Scholar
Kroll, Stephan, Cherry, Todd, and shogren, Jason. 2007. “Voting, Punishment and Public Goods.” Economic Inquiry 45, no. 3: 557–70.Google Scholar
Levi, Margaret, Sachs, Audrey, and Tyler, Tom. 2009. “Conceptualizing Legitimacy, Measuring Legitimating Beliefs.” American Behavioral Scientist 53, no. 3: 354–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebenow, J. Gus. 1987. Liberia: The Quest for Democracy. Bloomington and Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Lindberg, Staffan. 2006. Elections in Africa. Baltimore, Md.: John Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Logan, Carolyn. 2009. “Selected Chiefs, Elected Councilors, and Hybrid Democrats: Popular Perspectives on the Co-Existence of Democracy and Traditional Authority.” Journal of Modern African Studies 47, no. 1: 101–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mill, , Stuart, John. 1991 [1861]. Considerations on Representative Government. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Press.Google Scholar
Moran, Mary. 2006. Liberia: The Voice of Democracy. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdock, George. 1967. Ethnographic Atlas. Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Mvukiyehe, Eric, and Samii, Cyrus. 2012. “Does Peacekeeping Work from the Bottom Up? Negative Evidence from Liberia.” Working Paper. New York, N.Y.: New York University.Google Scholar
Olken, Benjamin. 2010. “Direct Democracy and Local Public Goods: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia.” American Political Science Review 104, no. 2: 243–67.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ranger, terence. 1993. “The Invention of Tradition Revisited.” In Ranger, Terence and Vaughan, Olufemi, eds., Legitimacy and the State in Twentieth Century Africa: Essays in Honor of A. H. M. Kirk-Greene. London, U.K.: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sawyer, Amos. 2005. Beyond Plunder: Toward Democratic Governance in Liberia. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Snyder, Jack. 2000. From Voting to Violence: Democratization and Nationalist Conflict. New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton and Company.Google Scholar
Sutter, Matthias, Haigner, Stefan, and Kocher, Martin. 2010. “Choosing the Carrot or the Stick? Endogenous Institutional Choice in Social Dilemma Situations.” Review of Economic Studies 77, no. 4: 1540–66.Google Scholar
Swidler, Ann. 2013. “Cultural Sources of Institutional Resilience: Lessons from Chieftaincy in Rural Malawi.” In Hall, Peter A. and Lamon, Michèle, eds., Social Resilience in the Neoliberal Era. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press: 319–45.Google Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney. 1996. “Social Movements in Contentious Politics: A Review Article.” American Political Science Review 90, no. 4: 874–82.Google Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney. 1998. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics, 2nd ed. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, Dennis. 1970. The Democratic Citizen. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tyran, Jean-Robert, and Feld, Lans P.. 2006. “Achieving Compliance when Legal Sanctions are Non-deterrent.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics 108, no. 1: 135–56.Google Scholar
Wade, Robert. 1988. Village Republics: Economic Conditions for Collective Action in South India. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, J. Michael. 2010. Chieftaincy, the State and Democracy: Political Legitimacy in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Baldwin and Mvukiyehe supplementary material

Baldwin and Mvukiyehe supplementary material 1

Download Baldwin and Mvukiyehe supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 342.3 KB