International Interventions to Build Social Capital: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Sudan

• Published in: The American political science review Vol. 109; no. 3; pp. 427 - 449
• Main Authors: AVDEENKO, ALEXANDRA, GILLIGAN, MICHAEL J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Citizen Participation; Community development; Community Programs; Community Relations; Credibility; Developing Countries; Donations; Elementary Education; Elementary Schools; Experiments; Focus Groups; Governance; Infrastructure; Intervention; Measurement Techniques; Networks; Participation; Political science; Political systems; Postwar reconstruction; Social Capital; Social change; Social Development; Social networks; Sudan; Trust; Villages; Sudan
• ISSN: 0003-0554; 1537-5943
• DOI: 10.1017/S0003055415000210

Increasingly the international community attempts to improve local public infrastructure in developing countries by creating more participatory local governance and social capital. We report on a randomized field experiment conducted in 24 communities (16 treated and 8 control) in rural Sudan. We offer a clearer theoretical statement of how these programs might alter the political landscape of the recipient villages. We measure norms using lab-in-the-field techniques and we measure network density with a survey of our 475 lab subjects. We appraise the participatory character of local governance and civic participation with a survey of 576 households. The program did not affect either networks or norms, but civic participation and the participatory nature of local governance increased. Thus we attribute the increase in citizen participation not to social capital growth but to more open local governing institutions.