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                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



   Direct Democracy and Resource Allocation Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan

      Author(s)            Andrew Beath, Fotini Christina, Ruben Enikolopov
      Contact              abeath@worldbank.org

      Country              Afghanistan

  Organizing Theme         Voice and Agency

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      Political Participation

       Sector              Social Development
                           Direct democracy is designed to better align public resource allocation decisions with
                           citizen preferences. Using a randomized field experiment in 250 villages across
                           Afghanistan, this paper compares outcomes of secret-ballot referenda with those of
                           consultation meetings, which adhere to customary decision-making practices. Elites are
      Abstract             found to exert influence over meeting outcomes, but not over referenda outcomes, which
                           are driven primarily by citizen preferences. Referenda are also found to improve public
                           satisfaction, whereas elite domination of allocation processes has a negative effect. The
                           results indicate that the use of direct democracy in public resource allocation results in
                           more legitimate outcomes than those produced by customary processes.
 Gender Connection         Gender Focused Intervention

  Gender Outcomes          Women's participation or voice in community, psychological agency

     IE Design             Clustered Randomized Control Trial (Clustered at village level)
                           The experiment was conducted in coordination with the National Solidarity Program, a
                           nationwide community development program. The program is structured around the
                           creation of Community Development Council (CDC) and the disbursement of block grants
    Intervention           to CDCs. The experiment randomizes whether projects are selected through referendum or
                           through consultation meetings. In a referendum, all adult male and female residents vote
                           for projects by secret ballot. In consultation meetings, most similar to the traditional
                           selection mechanisms, the village council convenes a meeting to discuss funding.
 Intervention Period       2002-Present, Program implementation in a village can take up to 3 years

  Sample population        The sample consists of 250 villages across 10 districts in Afghanistan.
                           The study compares projects chosen though a referendum to projects chosen through a
Comparison conditions
                           consultation meeting.
   Unit of analysis        Village Level

  Evaluation Period        September 2007 - October 2009



   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                       1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database


                            Allocation decisions made by consultative procedures grant significant influence to male
                            elites compared to direct democracy. Village council members have more influence than
                            others over project selection. One of the most important channels of elite influence is
        Results             agenda setting. However, female elites have almost no influence on project proposal but a
                            significant influence on project selection. Elite control worsens perception of local
                            governance and local capture. Direct democracy increases public satisfaction by increasing
                            the alignment of outcomes with preferences and increases the acceptance of the process.
Primary study limitations   The paper does not discuss limitations of the study.

    Funding Source          FAO, World Bank, National Solidarity Programme
                            Beath, A., Christia, F., & Enikolopov, R. (2012). Direct democracy and resource allocation:
      Reference(s)          experimental evidence from Afghanistan. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper,
                            (6133).
    Link to Studies
                            https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/11946
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                      2