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Dangerously Informed: Voter Information and Pre-Electoral Violence in Africa

Borzyskowski, Inken von; Kuhn, Patrick M

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Authors

Inken von Borzyskowski



Abstract

A considerable literature examines the effect of voter information on candidate strategies and voter-politician interactions in the developing world. The voter information literature argues that information can improve accountability because more informed voters are harder to woo with traditional campaign tools, such as ethnic appeals and vote-buying. However, this literature has largely ignored the reaction of political candidates and thus may reach conclusions that are overly optimistic regarding the impact of information on electoral accountability. We argue that voter information can increase electoral violence in developing countries where politicians face fewer institutional constraints on their campaign tactics. When violence is used as a campaign strategy, more informed electorates are more at risk because they are harder to sway through alternative campaign techniques. Using data from 35 African countries, we show that respondents receiving their news predominantly from newspapers are a good proxy for informed voters because they differ in terms of their political attitudes from respondents consuming no news or receiving it via other channels. Combining the geocoded survey data with pre-electoral violence event data, we find a robust positive association between newspaper readership and fear of and exposure to campaign violence. This finding contributes to the micro-foundations of election violence and adds a cautionary note for voter information programs.

Citation

Borzyskowski, I. V., & Kuhn, P. M. (2020). Dangerously Informed: Voter Information and Pre-Electoral Violence in Africa. Journal of Peace Research, 57(1), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343319885166

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 7, 2019
Online Publication Date Jan 6, 2020
Publication Date Jan 1, 2020
Deposit Date Nov 11, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Peace Research
Print ISSN 0022-3433
Electronic ISSN 1460-3578
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 1
Pages 15-29
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343319885166

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Copyright Statement
Inken von Borzyskowski & Patrick M Kuhn (2020). Dangerously Informed: Voter Information and Pre-Electoral Violence in Africa. Journal of Peace Research 57(1): 15-29.. Copyright © 2020 The Author(s) DOI: 10.1177/0022343319885166





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