Voting Their Conscience: Poverty, Education, Social Pressure and Vote Buying in Indonesia

Abstract

When citizens are offered cash and gifts by candidates, they can either vote for candidates offering the money, refuse the money, or take the money and vote for whichever candidate they prefer (e.g.,"vote their conscience"). Which citizens "vote their conscience" versus the other options available to them ? This manuscript examines the effect of poverty, education and social pressure on how citizens in the Central Java city of Semarang, Indonesia react to offers of cash from politicans