Across Kenya, Malawi and Zambia, political candidates often attempt to buy the votes of the most socio-economically deprived communities. But new research from Prisca Jöst and Ellen Lust argues that social cohesion in these communities are instrumental in determining the levels of support for candidates who attempt to buy their voters

Jöst, Prisca

Lust, Ellen

English

LSE Research Online

21/09/2022, 13:38 Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidates | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2022/08/30/social-ties-amongst-lower-income-citizens-shape-support-for-vote-buying-candidates/ 1/6Prisca Jöst Ellen Lust August 30th, 2022Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shapesupport for vote-buying candidates0 comments | 1 sharesEstimated reading time: 5 minutesAcross Kenya, Malawi and Zambia, political candidates often attempt tobuy the votes of the most socio-economically deprived communities. Butnew research from Prisca Jöst and Ellen Lust argues that social cohesionin these communities are instrumental in determining the levels ofsupport for candidates who attempt to buy their voters.Many scholars and development specialists argue that vote-buying – or theexchange of money or other goods for votes – undermines the provision ofpublic goods. Vote-buying is thus seen as a signi cant problem amongst thepoorest in Africa. Votes from the lowest-income earners may be cheaper to buy,but these groups could also bene t most from better service provision for theircommunities. Thus, many activists, practitioners and researchers support anti-vote-buying campaigns that caution African voters to refrain from selling theirvotes to political candidates.21/09/2022, 13:38 Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidates | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2022/08/30/social-ties-amongst-lower-income-citizens-shape-support-for-vote-buying-candidates/ 2/6Yet do the lowest-earning groups see candidates who give such handouts asless likely to provide future services? We use a Governance and LocalDevelopment Institute survey to explore this question. We ask low-income votersin Kenya, Malawi and Zambia if they expect candidates who give money orgoods during election time to provide services once in o ce. The resultshighlight that the relationship between vote-buying and service provision is morecomplicated than most think.Two competing views of electoral handouts There are two views of election handouts and public service delivery: One thatunderstands handouts as vote-buying and another that sees it as a signal ofcredibility. Most scholars subscribe to the  rst view, describing handouts as theimmediate, targeted exchange in which voters receive material goods instead offuture services. Eric Kramon puts forward an opposing argument, that thesehandouts can signal credibility to the voters. His study suggests poor Kenyansare more likely to support vote-buying candidates because they expect them tobe more likely to provide future services.Our study tests both views. We  rst asked low-income citizens in Kenya, Malawiand Zambia whether vote-buying is common in their community and whetherthey think it is morally acceptable. We  nd that experiences with vote-buying varywith the social ties in the community. In communities where most people knoweach other (i.e., socially dense communities), residents report handouts are bothmore common and morally acceptable than in communities where only a fewpeople know each other (i.e., less socially dense communities).Importantly, the socially dense communities are also the ones with inferiorservice provision – where future service provision ultimately matters more. Ourdata shows that 88% of residents surveyed in communities with strong socialties do not have access to electricity, compared to only 48% in thosecommunities with less dense social ties.How expectations over service provision vary with community ties  We also run a survey experiment in which we manipulate whether respondentshear a description of a candidate who hands out money, clothes or othermaterial goods, or conversely, one who does not engage in vote-buying during a21/09/2022, 13:38 Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidates | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2022/08/30/social-ties-amongst-lower-income-citizens-shape-support-for-vote-buying-candidates/ 3/6campaign. We ask respondents whether they expect the given candidate toimprove access to healthcare once elected.The survey experiment helps us to get around the problem of social desirabilitybias – that citizens may respond with what they think is socially desirable, even ifnot true. This approach does not allow us to measure individuals’ actualexperience, but we believe expectations are very likely to re ect previousexperiences. Moreover, expectations are important in and of themselves.We  nd that respondents do not expect much from candidates who give outmoney during the campaign. Citizens in all communities are less likely to thinkthat those candidates will deliver future services, compared to candidates whodo not give monetary handouts.Surprisingly, however, we also  nd that expectations of those candidates who donot give monetary handouts vary with the social ties in the community. In lessdense communities, voters understand these handouts to be an exchange fortheir votes, rather than future services. They are also less likely to support vote-buying candidates. By contrast, in socially dense communities, voters believethat no candidates will provide future services, regardless of whether theyengage in vote-buying or not. They are therefore more likely to say they wouldsupport vote-buying candidates.Improving politicians’ responsivenessOur research underlines that vote-buying is a targeted exchange of money andgifts for votes. The poor do not expect much after election day from those whogive out money regardless of the community context. Yet, in communities wheresocial ties are dense and state-provided services are inferior, voters believe thatthose who do not engage in vote-buying are no better than the candidates whodo.This study points to several important areas of research. First, it  nds that socialcontext – in particular, the density of social ties in the community – shapesperceptions and experiences with vote-buying. Consequently, future work willneed to focus more on the contextual effects when studying support for vote-buying candidates. Second, we emphasise that the expectations of those who donot give handouts change depending on the community context. Previous work21/09/2022, 13:38 Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidates | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2022/08/30/social-ties-amongst-lower-income-citizens-shape-support-for-vote-buying-candidates/ 4/6has only implicitly considered candidates who do not engage in vote-buying.Nevertheless, we will need to examine citizens’ perceptions of those candidateswho do not give handouts, more explicitly, in the future.Finally, we also draw important policy implications from this work. Our studyshows that citizens in socially dense communities where service provision isinferior do not expect any candidates to provide services to their communities. Infact, some small banknotes and gifts are “the only thing that they can get out ofthe elections.” International donors and organisations who aim to end vote-buying and strengthen democracy in Africa should therefore direct their effortstowards improving politicians’ responsiveness and service provision inmarginalised communities more speci cally.Photo: GCIS, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0About the authorPosted In: African Elections | Politics | RecentPrisca Jöst is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cluster of Excellence “ThePolitics of Inequality” at the University of Konstanz and associate at theGovernance and Local Development Institute.Prisca JöstEllen Lust is a professor of political science and the founding director of theGovernance and Local Development Institute at the University ofGothenburg. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of theSwedish Research Council and FORMAS.Ellen Lust

Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidates

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Social ties amongst lower-income citizens shape support for vote-buying candidates

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