Does Access to Information Empower the Poor? Evidence from the Dominican Republic
This paper summarizes the results of the impact evaluation of the Access to Information pilot project on empowerment of citizens in poor municipalities in the Dominican Republic. Among the dimensions of empowerment investigated are civic knowledge,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/05/19591427/access-information-empower-poor-evidence-dominican-republic http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18791 |
| Summary: | This paper summarizes the results of the
impact evaluation of the Access to Information pilot project
on empowerment of citizens in poor municipalities in the
Dominican Republic. Among the dimensions of empowerment
investigated are civic knowledge, awareness and use of the
right to information, perceptions of and trust in public
services and institutions, civic participation, and measures
of local governance. Data were collected in two rounds: a
baseline round at the end of 2010 and a follow-up round in
mid-2012. No impact is found on awareness and the use of
information under the specific Access to Information rules.
However, it is observed that individuals address more
general complaints to governments as a result of the Access
to Information program regardless of whether these are
classified under the ATI law or not. Some positive and
statistically significant impacts are found on local
government responsiveness, prioritization and decisions
about the municipal budget, and trust in and satisfaction
with some local government services. |
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