Persuading Depoliticized Youth to Cast Informed Votes in Authoritarian Contexts

• In Event: Governance and Authority in MENA

Abstract

We analyze the effect of three easily scalable, online interventions designed to encourage usually politically apathetic young voters to turnout and cast an informed vote ahead of the 2021 Moroccan parliamentary elections. Those interventions aimed at (1) lowering the cost of voting by providing information about the registration process, and increasing the benefit of voting by providing information about (2) the stakes of the election and (3) the candidate parties’ policy platforms. We find that, while all three interventions failed to increase youth turnout, providing information about parties’ policy platforms durably increased their support for the party that better represented their preferences, ultimately leading for more informed vote.

Authors

• Romain Reda Ferrali, Aix-Marseille School of Economics

• Guy Grossman, University of Pennsylvania

• Horacio Larreguy, ITAM