Peasants into Democrats: Evaluating the Impact of Information on Local Governance in Mali

Recent research suggests that enhancing voter information holds promise for increasing government accountability in new democracies. This project undertakes a field experiment in Mali, a model of an underperforming new democracy, to test the theory that information that sufficiently raises citizen voter expectations of government performance can have an important effect on governance. it will examine the impact of an intervention that provides citizens with a civics course on voter and government behavior.