Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan

Vista sencilla de ítem
dc.creatorKosec, Katrina
dc.creatorMo, Cecilia Hyunjung
dc.date2024-04
dc.date2023-03-28T17:24:06Z
dc.date2023-03-28T17:24:06Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T15:33:17Z
dc.descriptionCould perceived relative economic standing affect citizens’ support for political leaders and institutions? We explore this question by examining Pakistan's national unconditional cash transfer program, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP). Leveraging a regression discontinuity approach using BISP's administrative data and an original survey experiment, we find that perceptions of relative deprivation color citizen reactions to social protection. When citizens do not feel relatively deprived, receiving cash transfers has little sustained effect on individuals’ reported level of support for their political system and its leaders. However, when citizens feel relatively worse off, those receiving cash transfers become more politically satisfied while those denied transfers become more politically disgruntled. Moreover, the magnitude of the reduction in political support among non-beneficiaries is larger than the magnitude of the increase in political support among beneficiaries. This has important implications for our understanding of the political ramifications of rising perceived inequality.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/129786
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/107648
dc.languageen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceKosec, Katrina; and Mo, Cecilia Hyunjung. 2024. Does relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan. American Journal of Political Science 68(2): 832-849. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12767
dc.subjectcash transfers
dc.subjectincome
dc.subjectsurveys
dc.subjectpolitical systems
dc.subjectsocial protection
dc.subjectpolitics
dc.subjectinequality
dc.titleDoes relative deprivation condition the effects of social protection programs on political support? Experimental evidence from Pakistan
dc.typeJournal Article

Archivos

Colecciones

Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI)