Testing Statebuilding’s ‘Missing Link’: Effects of Government Communications in Colombia

Author(s): Enzo Nussio, Miguel García-Sánchez, Ben Oppenheim, Sebastián Pantoja-Barrios
Journal Title: The Journal of Development Studies
Pages: 18
Publisher(s): Taylor & Francis
Publication Year: 2019
Publication Place: London

Statebuilding in conflict regions is hard as local residents often distrust their governments. This article tests whether better communication may be the missing link in statebuilding programs. In collaboration with the Colombian government, text messages were sent to citizens in remote statebuilding areas. Counterintuitively, people who received government information became more dissatisfied with public services. Why? Rather than improving perceptions, the SMS messages may have raised citizens’ expectations. Communication without sufficient related action by governments can thus backfire.

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