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  3. American Economic Review
  4. August 2022
  5. All Eyes on Them: A Field Experiment on Citizen Oversight and Electoral Integrity

All Eyes on Them: A Field Experiment on Citizen Oversight and Electoral Integrity

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Abstract

Can information and communication technologies help citizens monitor their elections? We analyze a large-scale field experiment designed to answer this question in Colombia. We leveraged Facebook advertisements sent to over 4 million potential voters to encourage citizen reporting of electoral irregularities. We also cross-randomized whether candidates were informed about the campaign in a subset of municipalities. Total reports, and evidence-backed ones, experienced a large increase. Across a wide array of measures, electoral irregularities decreased. Finally, the reporting campaign reduced the vote share of candidates dependent on irregularities. This light-touch intervention is more cost-effective than monitoring efforts traditionally used by policymakers.

Citation

Garbiras-Díaz, Natalia, and Mateo Montenegro. 2022. "All Eyes on Them: A Field Experiment on Citizen Oversight and Electoral Integrity." American Economic Review, 112 (8): 2631-68. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20210778

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • C93 Field Experiments
  • D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
  • D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
  • D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
  • O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements