The literature exploiting historical data generally supports the democratic advantage thesis, which holds that democracies can sell more bonds on better terms than their authoritarian counterparts. However, studies of more recent—and extensive—data sets find that democracies have received no more favorable bond ratings from credit rating agencies than otherwise similar autocracies; and have been no less prone to default. These findings raise the question: where is the democratic advantage? Our answer is that previous assessments of the democratic advantage have typically (1) ignored the democratic advantage in credit access; (2) failed to account for selection effects; and (3) treated GDP per capita as an exogenous variable, ignoring the many arguments that suggest economic development is endogenous to political institutions. We develop an estimator of how regime type affects credit access and credit ratings analogous to the “reservation wage” model of labor supply and treat GDP per capita as an endogenous variable. Our findings indicate that the democratic advantage in the postwar era has two components: first, better access to credit (most autocracies cannot even enter the international bond markets); and second, better ratings, once propensity to enter the market is controlled and GDP per capita is endogenized.

How do stereotypes of female candidates influence citizens' perceptions of political fraud and corruption? Because gender stereotypes characterize female politicians as more ethical, honest, and trustworthy than male politicians, there are important theoretical reasons for expecting female politicians to mitigate perceptions of fraud and corruption. Research using observational data, however, is limited in its ability to establish a causal relationship between women's involvement in politics and reduced concerns about corruption. Using a novel experimental survey design, we find that the presence of a female candidate systematically reduces the probability that individuals will express strong suspicion of election fraud in what would otherwise be considered suspicious circumstances. Results from this experiment also reveal interesting heterogeneous effects: individuals who are not influenced by shared partisanship are even more responsive to gender cues; and male respondents are more responsive to those cues than females. These findings have potential implications for women running for office, both with respect to election fraud and corruption more broadly, particularly in low-information electoral settings. A ttempts to increase women's participation and representation in political systems since the early 1990s have brought renewed interest We would like to thank

This book shows that the third wave of democracy has been accompanied by a worldwide wave of opposition-initiated, election-related protests. Such electoral protests result from a failure on the part of incumbent and opposition elites in the developing world to negotiate acceptable terms of electoral conduct, and their consequences for democracy depend on the context in which they occur. Where election boycotts receive international support, they increase the probability of democratic reform, but where support is primarily domestic, there is a higher probability of authoritarian backsliding. Based on an extensive new data set covering nearly thirty years of electoral protest and election-related reform in the developing world, this book explores the causes of different types of electoral protest and their consequences for democracy. Statistical analysis and case studies provide readers with a complete picture of the dynamics surrounding developing world elections, protest, and democratization.

Why do people assume female politicians are less likely than men to engage in the illegal use of public positions for private gain? We argue that voters may perceive women as marginalized within political institutions, or as more risk averse and consequently more constrained by institutional oversight, which could lead to perceptions of women as less likely to engage in corruption. Using an original survey experiment, we test these mechanisms against conventional wisdom that women are seen as more honest. We find strong support for the risk aversion explanation, as well as heterogeneous effects by respondent sex for both the marginalization and honesty mechanisms. These findings suggest that the institutional contexts in which women are operating can help explain why people perceive them as less likely to engage in corruption. Identifying these mechanisms is critical to understanding the role of women in politics and for improving trust in government.

Recent studies show a clear link between women in government and reduced concerns about corruption. Until now, it remains unclear which underlying attitudes about women explain the perception that they will reduce corruption. Using a survey question about adding women to a police force, with an embedded experimental treatment, we examine three distinct stereotypes that might explain the power of women to reduce concerns about corruption: gender stereotypes of women as more ethical and honest, the perception of women as political outsiders, and beliefs that women are generally more risk averse. We find that people do perceive women as more effective at combating corruption, and these perceptions are greatly enhanced when information about women's outsider status and risk aversion is provided. | I NRO DUC TIO NPerceptions of police forces as corrupt challenge the legitimacy of policing authorities (Tankebe, 2010). When citizens do not trust the police, compliance with the law declines (Tankebe, 2013), the police prove less effective at fighting crime (Tyler, 2004), and people are less likely to seek assistance when victimized (particularly women who have been the victims of domestic or sexual violence; UN Women, 2011). Some countries have begun increasing the number of women police to reduce corruption and restore the image of police as legitimate. Examples of such policies are found in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Nicaragua, (Chêne, 2010;Karim, 2011;UN Women, 2011), 1 but why would increasing the number of women in the police reduce concerns about corruption? We argue that there are three potential factors that might account for people's perceptions that women are more effective at combating corruption: gender stereotypes that women are more ethical and honest, perceptions of women officers as outsiders, and perceptions of women as more risk averse than men (Barnes & Beaulieu, 2014. Following recent research on stereotype activation (e.g., Bauer, 2015), we employ an experiment embedded in an Internet survey of over 1,000 individuals to see which gender stereotype, when activated, leads people to believe that adding women to a police force is an effective means of combating corruption. Although this article focuses on policies aimed at restoring trust in the police, our research has broader implications as well, both for the role of women in public service and for understanding various means by which governments can work to improve trust in their institutions. | TRU S T IN TH E POL ICE AND PERCE PTIO NS O F CO RRU PTIO NPolice in many countries today face an image problem. Although recent media attention in the United States has focused on excessive use of police force, examples of police corruption also abound. In a recent high-profile case, three New York City police commanders were arrested for trading police services for lavish gifts (Rashbaum & Goldstein, 2016). Although they were acquitted, six Philadelphia police officers were charged by federal prosecutors for stealing nearly $400,000 during illegal ...