Political Linkages Project

Elections are blunt instruments for rewarding well-performing politicians or for punishing those who fail to perform adequately in office. At the same time, a politician’s ability to respond to voters’ concerns is impeded if he lacks ways to collect information between elections. We test the potential for improving responsiveness and accountability by partnering with politicians to use a cellphone-based technology that allows them to record messages and ask questions in their own voice, and then to send these out to large numbers of voters. Voters in turn can respond to specific questions using their phone’s touch pad. We study if this use of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology and the ability to provide feedback improves voters’ sense of efficacy and support for democracy and if markers of electoral accountability are improved.

This pilot intervention is designed to improve service delivery and political accountability. The intervention connects legislative representatives and rural voters in on-going two-way communication using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology available through any cell phone. The intervention is designed to be strategic, and to provide “teeth” to the capacity of legislators to improve valued aspects of service delivery while also offering voters opportunities to voice responses to elected officials.

The idea of the intervention is to provide politicians with the ability to distribute information to their constituents about up-coming service delivery priorities and spending decisions, and to allow constituents to provide real time feedback. This feedback loop allows politicians to learn responsiveness to voter preferences, which they are unable to do without information about what voters prefer. Likewise, this feedback connection allows voters to hold politicians accountable by repeatedly evaluating responsiveness during the legislative term, and then making an informed decision in the next election.