Can Participatory Governance Overcome Information Asymmetries in Rural Political Markets? A Case Study of Two Guatemalan Municipalities

Abstract

Increasing voter knowledge about government performance has been shown to be a key condition for making elections work as an effective accountability mechanism in developing countries. Yet, we know little on how information on government performance can be transmitted effectively to voters in rural areas with underdeveloped media. To shed light on this question, we examine how information about local government decisions is transmitted to voters in a case study of two municipal participatory governance forums. Our results show that a participatory governance forum can function as an effective information provision mechanism and thus contribute to local government responsiveness. They also indicate however that information is not transmitted effectively through a participatory governance forum when village representatives are unfamiliar with the procedural rules of participatory governance, when they lack support by civil society organizations and when the cost of attending meetings is high.