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A Natural Experiment in Political Decentralization: Local Institutions and Citizens' Political Engagement in Uruguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Fernando Rosenblatt ,
Germán Bidegain ,
Felipe Monestier  and
Rafael Piñeiro Rodríguez
Fernando Rosenblatt
Affiliation:
Escuela de Ciencia Política, Universidad Diego Portales. fernandorosenblatt@gmail.com
Germán Bidegain
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencia Política, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Chile. gbidegai@uc.cl
Felipe Monestier
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencia Política, Universidad de la República, Uruguay and PUC, Chile and Instituto de Ciencia Política, PUC, Chile. famonestier@uc.cl
Rafael Piñeiro Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Sociales y Políticas, Universidad Católica del Uruguay. rafael.pineiro@ucu.edu.uy
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Abstract

The potential democratizing effect of political decentralization reforms has been a matter of substantial theoretical and empirical debate. This article analyzes the effect of local democratic institution building on the political attitudes and behavior of citizens living in small towns in Uruguay. More specifically, using a natural experiment design, this research seeks to establish the causal impact of recently established elections of local authorities on individuals' political engagement. It develops a comparative case study analyzing the consequences of this institutional innovation in two towns. It shows that individuals from the town where citizens have the opportunity to elect their local authorities have more positive attitudes toward politics than those from the town without such elections.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , Summer 2015 , pp. 91 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2015

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