Making the Bourgeoisie? Values, Voice, and State-Provided Home Ownership

Abstract

What are the effects of state-provided home ownership on political values and voice? Home ownership is expected to lead to more conservative attitudes and more political engagement. At the same time, the receipt of government benefits should increase claim making and support for redistribution. We employ two original surveys of 3,000 participants of lotteries used to select beneficiaries for the Minha Casa, Minha Vida housing program in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to determine which prediction prevails. We compare winners and nonwinners at two points in the program and find that recent lottery winners—those who have not yet moved—report more conservative values. Early lottery winners, in contrast, are not more conservative but are more politically active than nonwinners. Exploratory analysis and qualitative interviews indicate that winners’ negative experiences of the program’s administration, not necessarily with the housing unit provided, generate this result.