Using Communications Technology to Promote Democratic Participation: Experimental Evidence from South Africa

Abstract

We present a national-scale effort to use technology to promote political participation in an emerging democracy, South Africa. A multichannel digital platform registering more than 90,000 South African citizens conducted opinion polling, crowdsourced information on electoral activities, and enabled citizen monitoring of polling places during the 2014 general election. Different channels display starkly distinct demographic profiles and patterns of engagement. Sequential experiments with randomized extrinsic incentives illustrate complementarity with the intrinsic engagement of citizens to participate on the platform. Our results illustrate how low-cost communications technology can ethically be used to promote political participation.

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