Download Study

General

Study Overview

Title:

Understanding the Impacts of a Civic Participation Initiative in Rwanda: Experimental Findings

Study is 3ie funded:

No

Study ID:

RIDIE-STUDY-ID-5356d701c1052

Initial Registration Date:

04/22/2014

Last Update Date:

04/22/2014

Study Status:

Ongoing

Location(s):

Rwanda

Abstract:

The Millennium Challenge Corporation sponsored the Rwanda Threshold Program (RTP) to help the Government of Rwanda improve its performance on governance indicators related to citizens’ political rights and civil liberties. Mathematica Policy Research conducted an evaluation of the RTP’s Strengthening Civic Participation (SCP) component, an initiative with two focus areas: (1) supporting the efforts of civil society organizations to advocate for local issues and (2) training local government officials to increase responsiveness to the concerns and priorities of citizens. The evaluation uses a district-level stratified random assignment design. We conducted surveys of Rwandan adults to collect data for evaluating SCP impacts, administered at baseline (in early 2011) and one year after the start of the program (2012). We drew nationally representative samples of approximately 10,000 citizens in each data collection round. The baseline and follow-up surveys collected data on respondents civic participation levels, including awareness and perceptions of local government performance, responsiveness, and accountability. We use this survey data to analyze program impacts.

Registration Citation:

Nichols-Barrer, I., 2014. Understanding the Impacts of a Civic Participation Initiative in Rwanda: Experimental Findings. Registry for International Development for Impact Evaluations (RIDIE). Available at: 10.23846/ridie028

Categories:

Public Sector Management
Social Protection
Other

Additional Keywords:

governance, civic participation, civil society

Secondary ID Number(s):

Principal Investigator(s)

Name of First PI:

Ira Nichols-Barrer

Affiliation:

Mathematica Policy Research

Name of Second PI:

Affiliation:

Study Sponsor

Name:

Millennium Challenge Corporation

Study Sponsor Location:

United States

Research Partner

Name of Partner Institution:

Type of Organization:

Location:

Intervention

Intervention Overview

Intervention:

The Strengthening Civic Participation (SCP) program was an initiative with two focus areas: (1) civil society organizations and (2) local government officials. For civic society organizations, the program's technical assistance focused on issues related to organizational management (i.e. proposal writing, human resources management), raising public awareness of policy issues and running effective advocacy campaigns. Each participating CSO also designed and submitted a grant proposal to the program for an advocacy campaign involving citizen dialogue with government officials (13 of these grants were ultimately issued). For local government officials, technical assistance largely focused on including citizens in participatory budget planning processes; district governments also had an opportunity to submit grant proposals for citizen outreach activities; all 15 districts in the treatment group received at least partial grant funding.

Theory of Change:

Multiple Treatment Arms Evaluated?

No

Implementing Agency

Name of Organization:

Urban Institute

Type of Organization:

NGO (International)

Program Funder

Name of Organization:

Millennium Challenge Corporation

Type of Organization:

Foreign or Multilateral Aid Agency

Intervention Timing

Intervention or Program Started at time of Registration?

Yes

Start Date:

03/01/2011

End Date:

12/31/2011

Evaluation Method

Evaluation Method Overview

Primary (or First) Evaluation Method:

Randomized control trial

Other (not Listed) Method:

Additional Evaluation Method (If Any):

Other (not Listed) Method:

Method Details

Details of Evaluation Approach:

The program's activities were planned as two separate, year-long phases, with 15 districts receiving activities in each phase. We randomly divided Rwanda’s 30 districts to either phase I or phase II; districts within each province were first matched in pairs or groups of three, using the following district characteristics: • Population change between 2002 and 2006 • Population density • Common Development Fund (CDF) appropriation amounts for FY 2008 (as a proxy for poverty levels) • Share of district spending obtained through local revenues in FY 2008 • District expenditure per capita on good governance and social affairs These matched district pairs or triplets were then used as randomization blocks. Specifically, after these blocks were created a public lottery was conducted in the presence of district officials to randomly assign districts within each block to the treatment group (districts that would receive program activities in phase I in 2011), or the control group (districts that were to receive program activities in phase II in 2012). The 15 control districts never received any program activities because the RTP was not extended beyond 2011.

Outcomes (Endpoints):

The baseline and follow-up surveys collected data on respondents’ civic participation levels, including awareness and perceptions of local government performance, responsiveness, and accountability. Specifically, respondents were asked about their awareness of local government meetings, familiarity with local government officials, perceived citizen influence, and knowledge and access to information about local government affairs. Respondents were also asked about their overall satisfaction with government services related to water infrastructure, local road conditions, waste collection, public schools, and health clinics.

Unit of Analysis:

Our analysis is based on individual-level data from the study's nationally representative survey of Rwandan adults.

Hypotheses:

• Strengthening Civic Participation activities improve citizens’ awareness of local government meetings, familiarity with local government officials, and knowledge about local government affairs. • Strengthening Civic Participation activities improve citizens’ perceived ability to access government information and influence government decisions. • Strengthening Civic Participation activities improve citizens’ satisfaction with local public services.

Unit of Intervention or Assignment:

Districts

Number of Clusters in Sample:

30

Number of Individuals in Sample:

10,000 Rwandan adults

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Treatment = 15 districts, 5,000 citizens; Control = 15 districts, 5,000 citizens

Supplementary Files

Analysis Plan:

Other Documents:

Data

Outcomes Data

Description:

Nationally representative survey of Rwandan adults, with survey questions focusing on local governance issues and civic participation.

Data Already Collected?

Yes

Data Previously Used?

No

Data Access:

Not restricted - access with no requirements or minimal requirements (e.g. web registration)

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Yes

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Treatment Assignment Data

Participation or Assignment Information:

No

Description:

Because treatment was assigned by district, the district identifiers in the data set are sufficient to identify the study's treatment or control group status of each survey respondent.

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Yes

Data Previously Used?

No

Data Access:

Not restricted - access with no requirements or minimal requirements (e.g. web registration)

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Yes

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Data Analysis

Data Analysis Status:

Yes

Study Materials

Upload Study Materials:

Registration Category

Registration Category:

Non-Prospective, Category 4: Data for measuring impacts have been obtained/collected by the research team and analysis for this evaluation has started

Completion

Completion Overview

Intervention Completion Date:

Data Collection Completion Date:

Unit of Analysis:

Clusters in Final Sample:

Total Observations in Final Sample:

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Findings

Preliminary Report:

Preliminary Report URL:

Summary of Findings:

Paper:

Paper Summary:

Paper Citation:

Data Availability

Data Availability (Primary Data):

Date of Data Availability:

Data URL or Contact:

Access procedure:

Other Materials

Survey:

Survey Instrument Links or Contact:

Program Files:

Program Files Links or Contact:

External Link:

External Link Description:

Description of Changes:

Study Stopped

Date:

Reason: