Can Media Interventions Reduce Gender Gaps in Political Participation after Civil War? evidence from a field experiment in rural Liberia
Five weeks prior to the 2011 general election in Liberia, women in randomly selected villages were allocated radios and organized into groups to listen regularly to radio programs on the electoral process broadcast by the United Nations Mission in...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25951 |
| Summary: | Five weeks prior to the 2011 general
election in Liberia, women in randomly selected villages
were allocated radios and organized into groups to listen
regularly to radio programs on the electoral process
broadcast by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
The field experiment was designed to ascertain the direct
effects of women's access to politically-relevant
information through radio broadcasting on their political
behaviors and attitudes in a post-war context. Results point
to positive significant effects of access to United Nations
Mission in Liberia Radio on female political participation
both at a national and a local level. Communities that
received the intervention also exhibited smaller gender gaps
across the majority of outcome indicators. The results
suggest that UNMIL Radio effects likely occurred through
increased political efficacy of women voters in the lead up
to the elections. The study concludes that women's
exposure to politically-relevant information through
mass-broadcasting, even if brief, can boost their political
efficacy and participation in public life. |
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