Election Fairness and Government Legitimacy in Afghanistan
International development agencies invest heavily in institution building in fragile states, including expensive interventions to support democratic elections. Yet little evidence exists on whether elections enhance the domestic legitimacy of governments. Using the random assignment of an innovative election fraud-reducing intervention in Afghanistan, we find that decreasing electoral misconduct improves multiple survey measures of attitudes toward government, including: (1) whether Afghanistan is a democracy; (2) whether the police should resolve disputes; (3) whether members of parliament provide services; and (4) willingness to report insurgent behavior to security forces.
Published Versions
Eli Berman & Michael Callen & Clark C. Gibson & James D. Long & Arman Rezaee, 2019. "Election fairness and government legitimacy in Afghanistan," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, . citation courtesy of 
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