Effects of Wealth, Handouts and Gender on Vote Choice in Malawi

• In Event: Democracy, Representation, and Elite Recruitment in Africa

Abstract

Many African politicians must demonstrate their "big (wo)man" status and engage in campaign clientelism in order to shore up electoral support. Failure to do so undermines their credibility and support. The argument linking credibility to both big man status and campaign clientelism often assumes their joint significance in determining voters’ political behavior. Does this assertion, however, withstand empirical scrutiny? Does the performance of a handout affect a candidate's favorability in the same way demonstrations of wealth do? And are women candidates who engage in clientelism punished more than men for such behavior? In this paper we use a survey experiment to assess the extent to which Malawian voters evaluate parliamentary candidates differently based on their wealth, engagement in campaign clientelism, or sex. To isolate each factor's causal effect, we manipulate these factors in animated and hypothetical candidates, thus giving us insight into how one’s biographical information (wealth) and strategy (clientelism) and gender work to affect their favorability among voters. Our preliminary results show that wealth, handouts and gender do matter, but sometimes in unexpected ways. The animations and the realism achieved by their use highlight the benefits these instruments have for those interested in conducting forced choice experiments in developing settings with low literacy rates.

Authors

• Matthew K Gichohi, Chr. Michelsen Institute

• Ragnhild Louise Muriaas, University of Bergen

• Vibeke Wang, Chr. Michelsen Institute