Direct Cash Transfer & Political Behaviour

In the last 15 years Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs have become a major component of the poverty reduction and social protection strategies of many developing countries. While most of these programs started in Latin America, currently CCTs are used in over 40 countries spanning several regions of the world. India, too, initiated its Direct Cash Transfer Program using Aadhaar cards on 28^th Nov 2012. 

The World Bank released a Policy Research Working Paper, in October 2012, titled “Conditional cash transfers, political participation and voting behaviour”, studied voter behaviour with respect to cash transfer beneficiaries in polls held recently in Colombia.

Summary of the Paper’s findings are as follows:

• The paper finds that political participation and political views are responsive to targeted transfers.
• The paper shows that beneficiaries of FA (Columbian the Familias en Accion – Columbia’s Cash Transfer) Program are around 2.5 percentage points more likely than comparable non-beneficiaries to vote.
• The increase in intent-to-vote and actual turnout is explained by larger political participation among beneficiary women.
• The paper observes that ‘During the 2010 presidential election voters covered by FA not only voted more often, but also expressed a stronger preference (around 2 percentage points) for the official party that implemented and expanded the program.’

        Possible explanations for this trend:

• The beneficiaries value and respond positively to such policies at the polls.
• Reciprocity, where voters support politicians who helped them in the past. Here, the paper mentions that women in particular have been found to vote more systematically in support of social policies.
• Another explanation is that the program was ‘strategically targeted’ and motivated by ‘clientelism and vote buying’.
  
• The paper ends with cautious note that ‘it is highly unlikely that the overall change in political preferences attributed to FA explains the final outcome of the 2010 presidential election. The results, however, show that voters respond to targeted transfers and that these transfers can foster support for incumbents.’