Authority and Participation: The Role of Leader Type, Shared Identity, and Community Influence on Campaign Participation in Zambia

14 October 2022, Version 1
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed at the time of posting.

Abstract

Why are some leaders more effective in mobilizing citizens than others? We draw on original survey data and a survey experiment conducted in the run-up to the 2021 Zambian elections to answer this question. The experiment varies the type of authority and the type of activity, as well as whether participation is monitored. The surveys also gathered information on the respondents’ shared identity traits with the leader and their perceptions of the leader’s social influence over (1) the scope of the individual’s life, and (2) the members of the community. This allows us to explore the extent to which it is the leader type or the nature of the relationships between leaders and citizens that drive compliance. We find that leader influence is associated with reported willingness to participate, and leader sanctioning and legitimacy are likely mechanisms. Leader type and identity have no influence on the respondents’ willingness to participate.

Keywords

Political Participation
Authority
Social Identity
Social Influence
Political Leaders
Zambia

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.