Does electricity demobilize citizens? Exploring access to the grid, political participation and democracy in Africa

Abstract

Scholars and policymakers often describe electricity as a catalyst for a country’s industrialization and the social development of its citizens, but the relationship between electric power and political behavior remains understudied. Contributing to literatures on electricity access and the politics of public service provision in Africa, we hypothesize that an increase in electricity access will be associated with higher levels of three traditional measures of political participation: voting, political contacting, and collective action. Using a mixed method approach, we first analyze five rounds of Afrobarometer surveys from 2002 to 2015 across 36 countries (N ∼160,000). Contrary to our initial hypothesis, we find that individuals with access to electricity are less likely to participate than those without access to electricity. This is particularly true for wealthier individuals and those living in democracies, although in more authoritarian regimes, individuals in grid-connected communities are less likely to contact government officials. Second, drawing on qualitative focus groups in a representative case, Ghana, we theorize a causal mechanism that refutes classic understandings of modernization theory. Rather than modern amenities increasing engagement, electricity access is associated with disengaging from some traditional types of political participation as citizens enjoy the benefits of electricity at home. Some of these benefits, which include cooled air, television, and smart phones, potentially enable new modes of digital participation. We conclude that future research should clarify the conceptualization and measurement of both electricity access and political participation to investigate the potential causal mechanisms at work.