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Abstract

This dissertation comprises three papers on slum residents’ participation in local democratic politics, using mixed methods and a focus on slums in the city of Bhubaneswar in India. The first paper uses a field survey experiment to probe slum voters’ preferences for election candidates who offer cash handouts versus more substantial goods, and who make explicit statements about selectively targeting voters with benefits. The paper uses a second experiment to explore voters’ attitudes toward community members who participate in vote-buying. The second paper examines the cases of two community leaders who engage with political representatives in different ways – one through public contention, and the other through private negotiations – but who similarly attempt to make local governance more transparent and responsive. The third paper uses the case of the 2019 elections to qualitatively analyze the ways in which slum residents engage with elections beyond casting their individual vote, such as through election-time protests, directly contesting elections, and public rhetoric around economic rights and vote-buying politics. The dissertation shows that contrary to popular perception, slum residents do not simply vote for politicians who offer them cash or other material handouts, do not support exclusionary clientelistic politics in their communities even when they stand to benefit as individuals, do engage in deliberations around ideas of accountability and rights, and collectively mobilize during elections in an attempt to bring their interests onto the electoral agenda and ensure accountability.

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