Community Driven Development, Political Participation, and Incumbent Voting

• In Event: Governance Beyond the State: Social Institutions and Service Delivery

Abstract

While many low-income countries have adopted Community Driven Development (CDD) programs, evidence on the ability of these interventions to encourage local democratic practices is mixed. The existing literature is predominantly focused on the effects of CDD programs on social capital, cooperation, and trust within communities. I expand this focus and evaluate the extent to which the exogenous introduction of democratic practices changed participation in politics more broadly, especially voting in local elections. Additionally, I examine the consequences for incumbent candidate vote share. The study also provides evidence as to whether the CDD changed fundamental preferences and/or expectations of citizens. I combine data on the implementation of a CDD program in the Philippines between 2003 and 2006 with detailed voting data in local elections. I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the causal effect of the CDD program. Preliminary results indicate that the program had no effect on political participation, but a positive effect on incumbent candidate vote share.

Author

• Felix Hartmann, University of Gothenburg