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Democracy Corrupted: Apex Corruption and the Erosion of Democratic Values

Date
-
Speaker
Saumitra Jha, Associate Professor of Political Economy, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Location
Graham Stuart Lounge - Encina Hall West, Room 400
Saumitra Jha
Abstract

Democratic values are eroding just as citizens perceive increasing corruption, with numerous cases implicating the highest-level politicians. Could perceived increases in apex corruption be weakening democracy? We first present event study analyses of more than 170 high-profile corruption scandals involving some of the most prominent politicians in 17 Latin American countries. We show that in the aftermath of such apex corruption scandals, support for democracy falls by 0.07๐‘ ๐‘‘, support for authoritarianism rises by 11% and violent protests rise by 70%. We complement these results with a field experiment in Mexico. Randomized exposure to footage of apex corruption scandals, particularly implicating politicians known for their anticorruption platforms, decreases individualsโ€™ support for democracy by 0.15๐‘ ๐‘‘, willingness to trust politicians and neighbors in incentivized games by 18% and 11%, volunteering as election observers by 45%, and actual voter turnout by about 5๐‘๐‘, while raising stealing from local mayors by 4%. The undermining of democratic values produces latent effects that even cumulate four months later. Seeking solutions, priming national identity proved an unsuccessful antidote, but providing exposure to national stock index funds holds some promise.

Biography

Professor Saumitra Jha is a professor in the political economy group at the Stanford Graduate School of Business,  and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law in the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Affairs (FSI).

He also convenes the Conflict and Polarization Lab within the Stanford King Center on Global Development and manages the Democratic Fragility and Conflict program at FSI.

His research focuses upon understanding the effectiveness of organizations and innovations that societies have developed to address the problems of violence and political risk in the past and to develop new lessons for contemporary policy.

He is affiliated as a professor, by courtesy, of the Stanford Departments of Economics and of Political Science, as a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.