Access to Information Laws and Voter Behavior: Does Transparency Increase Participation?

61 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2019 Last revised: 23 Jan 2020

See all articles by Jamie Bologna Pavlik

Jamie Bologna Pavlik

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Date Written: January 21, 2020

Abstract

Electoral participation is an integral component of democracy and can be an effective tool in the battle against corruption. However, encouraging participation in areas with highly corrupt governments is difficult. In this paper, I explore the role of transparency in voter turnout. I exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the municipal implementation of Brazil’s 2011 Access to Public Information (ATI) law on voter turnout in mayoral elections. I find that municipal ATI laws increase broad participation overall but are most effective when coupled with a commitment to accountability. These results are robust to an in-time placebo test and numerous alternative specifications. These findings suggest that increased transparency can lead to increased voter participation and democratic accountability within a country that suffers from corruption.

Keywords: Voter Turnout, Political Participation, Corruption, Transparency, Accountability

JEL Classification: D72, D73, P16

Suggested Citation

Bologna Pavlik, Jamie, Access to Information Laws and Voter Behavior: Does Transparency Increase Participation? (January 21, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3448770 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3448770

Jamie Bologna Pavlik (Contact Author)

Texas Tech University - Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics ( email )

Suite 167, 2625 Memorial Circle
TTU Administration
Lubbock, TX 79409
United States

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