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.

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