The Material Constraints to Participation: Experimental Evidence from Kenya

• In Event: Experiments on Voter Participation and Partisanship in Southern and East Africa

Abstract

What are the barriers to voter registration in the developing world? In political science, a large body of literature focuses on how information and education shape political participation in Africa, but few studies explore the material barriers to participation. In contrast, studies of political participation in the developed world regularly examine how material factors affect voter registration. In many high-poverty contexts, spatial and economic considerations may be the primary constraint to voter registration. We examine this problem using a 2x3 factorial experiment in Kenya in over 1500 registration areas across the country. In collaboration with the electoral commission, we reduce transportation costs facing citizens by moving voter registration equipment to randomly-selected registration areas. This effectively reduces the transportation-related costs of voter registration to zero. Similarly, we randomly assign areas to receive SMS-based information on registration and face-to-face education from electoral commission staff. The results demonstrate the relative importance each factor, and speak to an important and understudied element affecting voter registration in the developing world.

Authors

• J. Andrew Harris, New York University Abu Dhabi

• Peter Van der Windt, Columbia University