Debates: Voting and Expenditure Responses to Political Communication
在塞拉利昂通过实验发现，公开辩论能增加选民政治知识、改变投票方式，进而促使候选人调整竞选支出并加强对当选官员开支的问责。
Candidate debates have a rich history and remain integral to contemporary campaign strategy. There is, however, little evidence that they affect the behavior of voters or politicians. The scarcity of political information in the developing world offers an attractive testing ground. Using experimental variation in Sierra Leone, we find that public debate screenings build political knowledge that changes the way people vote, which induces a campaign expenditure response by candidates and fosters accountability pressure over the spending of elected officials. Results show how political communication can trigger a chain of events that begins with voters and ultimately influences policy.