@article{8822d5e1c9b7436bb8e4c071b74ffb17,
title = "Voter information campaigns and political accountability: Cumulative findings from a preregistered meta-analysis of coordinated trials",
abstract = "Voters may be unable to hold politicians to account if they lack basic information about their representatives{\textquoteright} performance. Civil society groups and international donors therefore advocate using voter information campaigns to improve democratic accountability. Yet, are these campaigns effective? Limited replication, measurement heterogeneity, and publication biases may undermine the reliability of published research. We implemented a new approach to cumulative learning, coordinating the design of seven randomized controlled trials to be fielded in six countries by independent research teams. Uncommon for multisite trials in the social sciences, we jointly preregistered a meta-analysis of results in advance of seeing the data. We find no evidence overall that typical, nonpartisan voter information campaigns shape voter behavior, although exploratory and subgroup analyses suggest conditions under which informational campaigns could be more effective. Such null estimated effects are too seldom published, yet they can be critical for scientific progress and cumulative, policy-relevant learning.",
author = "Thad Dunning and Guy Grossman and Macartan Humphreys and Hyde, {Susan D.} and Craig McIntosh and Gareth Nellis and Adida, {Claire L.} and Eric Arias and Clara Bicalho and Boas, {Taylor C.} and Buntaine, {Mark T.} and Simon Chauchard and Anirvan Chowdhury and Jessica Gottlieb and {Daniel Hidalgo}, F. and Marcus Holmlund and Ryan Jablonski and Eric Kramon and Horacio Larreguy and Malte Lierl and John Marshall and Gwyneth McClendon and Melo, {Marcus A.} and Nielson, {Daniel L.} and Pickering, {Paula M.} and Platas, {Melina R.} and Pablo Querub{\'i}n and Pia Raffler and Neelanjan Sircar",
note = "Funding Information: : We are grateful to J. Leaver, A. Long, and M. Lisiecki for support of this research. For comments on the project, we especially thank the commentators at a daylong workshop at Duke University; attendees at the American Political Science Association annual meetings, the LAWEBESS conference (Chile), and meetings of the EGAP group; and seminar participants at Columbia University, the European University Institute (IMBEDS), Heidelberg University, Rutgers University, Stanford University, University College London, University of Bamberg, University of Barcelona, University of California San Diego, University of Essex, University of Gothenburg, University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Washington, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and WZB Berlin. Primary funding for the coordinated studies and the meta-analysis was provided by Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund. Individual studies received supplementary funding or in-kind support from the i2i (a World Bank–administered trust fund), the multidonor Knowledge for Change Program, the Programme d{\textquoteright}appui aux collectivit{\'e}s territoriales (PACT), the World Bank, and Yale University (Burkina Faso study), and the International Republican Institute and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Uganda 1 study). Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019 The Authors.",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.1126/sciadv.aaw2612",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "5",
journal = "Science Advances",
issn = "2375-2548",
publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",
number = "7",
}