Conditional Cash Transfers, Political Participation, and Voting Behavior

Abstract

This paper estimates the effect of
 enrollment in a large scale anti-poverty program in
 Colombia, Familias en Accion, on intent to vote, turnout and
 electoral choice. For identification the analysis uses
 discontinuities in program eligibility and variation in
 program enrollment across voting booths. It finds that
 Familias en Accion had a positive effect on political
 participation in the 2010 presidential elections by
 increasing the probability that program beneficiaries
 registered to vote and cast a ballot, particularly among
 women. Regarding voter's choice, the authors find that
 program participants expressed a stronger preference for the
 official party that implemented and expanded the program.
 Overall, the findings show that voters respond to targeted
 transfers and that these transfers can foster support for
 incumbents, thus making the case for designing political and
 legislative mechanisms, as the laws recently passed by the
 Colombian government, that avoid successful anti-poverty
 schemes from being captured by political patronage.