Preferences for Redistribution, State Intervention, and Democratic Rule in Sub-Saharan Africa
This project provides insights into the endogeneity of preferences for redistribution and state intervention, as well as support for democracy, in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. The question of endogeneity of preferences is particularly relevant for Africa, since many African states are still in the early stages of the transition from autocratic to democratic rule, as well as from economic systems with heavy state intervention to more market-based systems. An important determinant of the success of these transitions is the extent to which individuals' preferences are aligned with the existing system of governance. To the extent that many changes in the political and economic systems of African states are exogenous, we can make some progress towards inference about the direction in which causality runs. Autocratic regimes with heavy state intervention in the economic system might have lastingly shaped people’s preferences in favor of a strong government, or, on the other hand, might have increased individuals’ desire for the state to stay out of their lives as much as possible and to let the markets work.
Using Afrobarometer survey data from 18 Sub-Saharan African countries, as well as macro data on the history of economic and political regimes, we investigate the individual determinants of preferences for state intervention and support of democracy, and analyze whether they are in line with theoretical predictions. Moreover, we study how the time elapsed since the transition to democratic rule, as well as the degree of state intervention in the past, influence individual preferences for different types of political and economic systems.
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People in this project::
- Project director / contact
- Fuchs-Schündeln, Nicola, Prof. Dr. | Profile
Clémentine Deliss and Juliane Rebentisch discuss the role of art in politics and society. The third Frankfurter Stadtgespräch of the Cluster of Excellence and Frankfurter Kunstverein will take place on September 16. 
