Exporting democratic practices: Evidence from a village governance intervention in Eastern Congo

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Humphreys, Macartan; de la Sierra, Raul Sanchez; Van der Windt, Peter
• 署名单位: Columbia University; University of Chicago; New York University; New York University Abu Dhabi
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.03.011
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 279-301
• 关键词: Political processes; political economy; institutions; culture; Demonstration effects

摘要

We study a randomized Community Driven Reconstruction (CDR) intervention that provided two years of exposure to democratic practices in 1250 villages in eastern Congo. To assess its impact, we examine behavior in a village-level unconditional cash transfer project that distributed $1000 to 457 treatment and control villages. The unconditonal cash transfer provides opportunities to assess whether public funds get captured, what governance practices are employed by villagers and village elites and whether prior exposure to the CDR intervention alters these behaviors. We find no evidence for such effects. The results cast doubt on current attempts to export democratic practices to local communities.