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THE IMPACT OF CANDIDATE DEBATES IN SIERRA LEONE
SIERRA LEONE IN RUN-UP TO 2012(FROM PREVIOUS WORK DONE BY IPA RESEARCHERS)
Voter Turnout High and Ethnic-Political Party Ties Strong - 2007/8 Elections
National76% voted86% voted for party affiliated with tribe
Local39% voted75% voted for party affiliated with tribe
Voters know more about Local Councilors than MPs If don’t know candidates, may vote on traditional linesParties may have less incentive to find the best
candidates when voters don’t have good information - may instead rely on ethnic loyalties to deliver the vote
EXIT POLL IN CONTROL VILLAGES
Election Day (Nov 2012) exit polls in control villages reveal that:
• Only 28% of voters could name the two Parliamentary candidates
• 64% couldn’t name a single MP job responsibility
• 3% knew the amount of the MPs’ constituency facilitation fund
• 35% knew the proposed quota for women’s representation in government and 17% knew the candidates’ positions on the bill
• 70% of voters have zero years of schooling, 31% have no radio
Research question: can giving voters information about candidates and policy facilitate more informed voting and greater accountability?
OVERALL DEVELOPMENT GOAL
Improve service delivery and reduce poverty
In previous elections – citizens do not have enough information to hold officials to account – thus difficult to improve governance
Is better information the answer? What information matters? Will it change voters choices and in the end improve service delivery?
KEY STUDY QUESTIONS
Can hosting structured debates between candidates provide
Voters with information on the performance and capabilities of
Both incumbents and challengers, thereby making voting more
Sensitive to leader quality, relaxing reliance on ethnic-party ties,
And increasing the contestability of seats?
Which components of information revealed in debates (e.g. concrete
information on policy preference and competence, less tangible
indicators of candidate quality like oratory skills and persuasion
power, and purely superficial attributes like age and attractiveness)
are most influential in changing voter behavior?
OUR THREE-PRONGED APPROACH
Parties• encouraging them to nominate better qualified candidates
• Scorecards to each MP based on surveys with constituents
• ## distributed
Voters• information on candidate policies, personal characteristics and
qualifications
• Debates between candidates in 14 constituencies• # screenings and estimated attendees
Candidates• encouraging them to invest more time and money in their constituencies
TREATMENT CONSTITUENCIESDistrict Constituency
Western Rural 93
Port Loko 56
Kambia 37
Bombali 32
Tonkolili 63
Koinadugu 43
Koinadugu 46
Koinadugu 47
Moyamba 84
Moyamba 85
Bp 70
Kenema 15
Kenema 14
Kono 22
CONTROL CONSTITUENCIESDistrict Constituency
Koinadugu 44
Koinadugu 45
Koinadugu 48
Kambia 38
Kambia 41
Kambia 42
Port Loko 54
Kailahun 3
Kailahun 4
Kenema 17
Moyamba 81
Moyamba 86
Western Rural 92
Western Rural 94
TIMELINE OF PROJECT
• Pilot January – February 2012
• Filming Debates October 2012
• Screening October – November 2012
• Exit Poll November 2012
NEEDED LOTS OF DATA
To answer all these questions we needed lots of data!
Before and After Debate Survey
knowledge of politics and candidates, policy stances, voting intentions
Exit Poll Survey
same people, policy questions, who they voted for and why
ONE OF OUR 10,000 SURVEYS!
OUR DATA
Representative survey – randomly selected households/individuals
Before and After Debate Survey
5000 surveys in 10 districts
Exit Poll Survey
Over 8,000 surveys in 10 districts
Collected 98% target data
DEBATE SCREENING
• Debates hosted in 14 of the 28 most closely contested constituencies
• “Road show” of debate screenings in 112 of 224 polling centers plus 85 additional screenings in satellite villages
• Approximately 19,000 individuals saw a debate
SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIESRivers… Lakes…
Bridges… Terrible roads…
GOING FORWARD…• Create a platform for discussion between
relevant government and civil society actors exploring possible ways to build on the results of the research.
• Explore how debates can support voter education initiatives?
• How can the successful candidates be held accountable for the promises they made during the election?
• How can we ensure that all voters are better informed about candidate quality at the next election?
THE END
THANK YOU