Do citizens change their beliefs, participation and satisfaction upon learning about state performance? An RCT in India

The intervention for the study entails presenting participants with a comprehensive 7-minute video as part of the survey. This video delves into Ranchi's performance within the framework of the Aspirational Districts Programme, with a specific focus on the domains of health, education, and infrastructure. The video places particular emphasis on three pivotal indicators extracted from the Champions of Change Dashboard: the percentage of underweight children under the age of 6, adherence to the Pupil Teacher Ratio mandated by the Right To Education Act in elementary schools, and the proportion of habitations with access to all-weather roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
Furthermore, this video incorporates a comparative analysis, contrasting Ranchi's performance with that of five neighboring districts, thereby offering a relative assessment of each indicator. The intervention also highlights the significance of the "Champions of Change Dashboard" as an indispensable tool for monitoring and evaluating developmental progress. It goes a step further by educating participants about the various channels available for lodging grievances or expressing concerns to the government. These include prominent platforms such as CPGRAMS, the Meri Sadak Application, and the Right to Information Act, serving to promote civic awareness and encourage active participation in governance processes.

2024-01-21

2024-06-30

The key primary outcomes of this study include:

1- Belief updating about the above-mentioned state performance indicators
2- Citizen participation with the state
3- Citizen satisfaction with public service delivery

1- Trust in institutions
2- Political preferences
3- Voter agency

This research employs an Individual Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with a sample size of 2,100 participants, stratified by gender. These participants are drawn from rural Ranchi, an aspirational district in Jharkhand, and are randomly allocated into two groups: the Treatment group (n=1050) and the Control group (n=1050).

Treatment Group: Information - Participants in the treatment group will receive information through an informative video. This video will provide insights into their district's average absolute performance on pre-selected indicators assessed under the Aspirational Districts Program (ADP). Additionally, they will gain an understanding of how their district compares to five neighboring districts in terms of average performance. The video will also introduce participants to the Aspirational Districts Program and the "Champions of Change Dashboard," which serves as an open platform for citizens to regularly monitor their district's progress. Beyond government performance, this video will also offer guidance on citizens' rights and government initiatives, enabling them to actively engage in demanding improved public service delivery.

Control Group: Placebo Video - Conversely, the control group will watch a placebo video, unrelated to state performance or citizen engagement. This video will serve the purpose of keeping respondents engaged during the time frame in which the treatment group receives information about government performance. Specifically, it will be a historical documentary focused on the archaeological discovery of an ancient town in Rajasthan (a different state from Jharkhand).

Not available

Randomization will be done using a pre-specified seed in Stata.

Randomisation unit will be individuals residing within an aspirational district. Randomisation will be stratified by village where we will have a treatment (n=21) and control group (n=21) within each village (n=42) of the total 50 villages.

No

2100 respondents

2100 respondents

We aim to recruit a representative sample of 2100 respondents across 50 villages in Ranchi. Within each village (n=42), the respondents are randomised to being into the treatment group (n=21) and control group (n=21). Additionally, the respondents will be stratified by gender within each village with an equal number of male and female respondents to have an equal representation of both males and female respondents in the sample.

A sample size of 2100 respondents (approximately 1050 users in each of the 2 experimental groups) gives us 80% power at 0.01 significance level to detect a 0.15 standard deviation change in beliefs about state performance, citizen participation and satisfaction for an Individual Randomised Trial. Power calculation was done using the power command in Stata for two sample comparison of means.