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Seeing like a citizen: Experimental evidence on how empowerment affects engagement with the state

Soeren Henn et al.

American Journal of Political Science2026https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.70033article
AJG 4*ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Building a strong and effective state requires revenue. Yet, in many low‐income countries, citizens do not make formal payments to the state or forego engaging with the state altogether due to vulnerability to opportunistic demands by state agents. We study two randomized interventions in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, designed to empower citizens in their negotiations with opportunistic state agents: one provided information about statutory payment obligations, the other offered protection from abusive officials. We examine the effects not only on citizen payment amounts (intensive margin effects) but also on whether citizens start making formal payments, or any payments, to the state (extensive margin effects). We find that protection, and to a lesser extent information, had clear extensive margin effects, increasing the share of citizens making formal payments and engaging with the state. These findings show how empowering citizens can help countries transition away from a low‐revenue, low engagement equilibrium.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.70033

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@article{soeren2026,
  title        = {{Seeing like a citizen: Experimental evidence on how empowerment affects engagement with the state}},
  author       = {Soeren Henn et al.},
  journal      = {American Journal of Political Science},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.70033},
}

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Seeing like a citizen: Experimental evidence on how empowerment affects engagement with the state

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.