Local Elections

This study asks whether demand for clientelism among informal workers can be attenuated, and whether reducing that demand translates into support for programmatic alternatives. The authors ran an information experiment with firm owners ahead of Senegal’s 2022 local elections, at a moment when an upstart faction campaigned on programmatic reform. They report that reminding informal workers of their ability to coordinate reduced engagement with dominant clientelistic networks, but that shift generally led to political disengagement rather than mobilization for programmatic candidates.

Tunisia’s 2018 municipal elections adopted strict gender quotas that produced near-parity between male and female elected councilors. Yet fewer than 20% of mayors—who are chosen from among elected list-heads—were women. This research investigates why quotas raised descriptive representation on councils but failed to convert into council leadership.

Do Leftist local governments push informal workers into formal jobs, or ease enforcement and improve informal conditions? This study asks whether mayors from Brazil's Workers' Party (PT) increase enforcement against enterprises that hire noncontract, informal-sector workers or instead adopt forbearant policies. Using a close-election regression discontinuity design at the municipal level, the article examines how left-wing victories affect enforcement and the size and conditions of the informal sector.