Peer Reviewed Journal Articles by Lindsay J Benstead
Journal of Middle East and Africa, 2025
What explains local governance effectiveness? Leveraging the theoretical concepts of ‘reserved po... more What explains local governance effectiveness? Leveraging the theoretical concepts of ‘reserved positions,’ ‘reserved domains,’ and tutelage, we explore the link between the formal and informal institutions that structure intergovernmental relations and local government effectiveness. We argue that local officials’ ability to respond effectively to citizens’ demands—and the likelihood that citizens will be satisfied as a result—is a function of the mayor or local councilor’s relationship with the state. Drawing on a case study of a commune in Bejaia and a survey of 782 Algerian citizens in eight provinces, we find that local councilors from dominant parties (i.e., FLN and RND) are more effective at responding to local development requests than councilors from non-dominant parties. This increased effectiveness is correlated with higher citizen satisfaction. We argue that dominant party members’ greater effectiveness is due to their more cooperative relationship with the wali (governor) and other state institutions, and the subsequent support these actors and institutions provide. Our research extends the literature on authoritarian politics and local governance by empirically demonstrating the relationship between dominant party membership and the successful implementation of local development projects. Our work also has implications for understanding why the structure of intergovernmental relations in authoritarian regimes, characterized by ‘reserved positions,’ ‘reserved domains,’ and tutelage, supports regime persistence and how development organizations might seek to promote democratic reform at the local level.
Journal of Political Science Education
Despite technological innovation and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dearth of experimental res... more Despite technological innovation and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dearth of experimental research on the effects of virtual instruction. Using an original field experiment conducted among 100 UAE and USA students, we investigate how a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project on international development shapes social trust, tolerance, and political engagement. Using an experimental design, UAE-based students were randomly assigned to a group with either their classmates or, through online interaction, USA-based students, while in a quasi-experimental design, USA-based students collaborated online with UAE-based students. UAE-based COIL students developed greater interpersonal trust in their society, but a reduced desire to make American friends as a result of the exchange. USA-based students developed a greater desire to follow international issues. Proposing a social identity theory (SIT) of social capital formation, we argue that by taking part in the COIL project, the UAE-based students, who live in a society in which social identity is highly salient, redefined their social in-group boundaries and came to see members of their own diverse society more warmly while perceiving greater differences from Americans. By illustrating COIL’s complex effects, our research extends the social capital literature and offers insights for enhancing the benefits of COIL.
Journal of Middle East and Africa, 2024
Why do Islamist parties succeed electorally? Some scholars posit that Islamists' success stems fr... more Why do Islamist parties succeed electorally? Some scholars posit that Islamists' success stems from their ability to institutionalize constituent relations to serve marginalized citizens. I test this hypothesis using an original survey of 782 Algerian citizens focusing on their constituency service interactions with legislators. I argue and show empirically that Islamists' greater party capacity and more institutionalized constituency service practices allow them to more effectively reach citizens outside of their existing networks and those from groups that are marginalized from patronage networks with the state (e.g., women). By offering evidence of Islamists' responsiveness to citizens from diverse backgrounds, this study suggests that authoritarian states' reliance on clientelism leaves them vulnerable to challenges by opposition movements that can mobilize around religion and serve as intermediaries for citizens.
Comparative Political Studies, 2024
Open Access: https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/doi/10.1177/00104140241237462
Abstra... more Open Access: https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/doi/10.1177/00104140241237462
Abstract
Despite growing evidence of pro-female bias in the electorate elsewhere, conventional wisdom holds that voters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) prefer male candidates, presumably due to sexism. We test this conventional wisdom using a conjoint experiment administered to over 30,000 respondents in six MENA countries. We find both male and female respondents are more likely to express support for female candidates and see them as more capable than their male counterparts, even in stereotypically male domains. We argue the increasing demand for political outsiders explains these results. In highlighting the importance of such changes, our study expands the application of gender congruity theory in the MENA and beyond by offering evidence that both changes in gender stereotypes (i.e., gender roles) and in what citizens desire in leaders (i.e., leader roles) reduce anti-female bias at the polls.
What explains electoral support for Islamist parties? Existing literature assesses the role of pr... more What explains electoral support for Islamist parties? Existing literature assesses the role of programmatic appeals, in the form of religious ideology and economic programs, but lacks the data needed to test the role of particularistic benefits. Drawing on an original survey of 1,202 Tunisians conducted in 2012, I test the role of programmatic and particularistic benefits in explaining voter choice in Tunisia’s 2011 Constituent Assembly and 2014 parliamentary elections. I argue that, due to its greater party organizational capacity, Ennahda provided more constituency service than other parties and was more successful in attracting new supporters by 2012 as a result. In 2011, Ennahda voters were more religious and more economically marginalized than non-Islamist voters. Yet by 2012, Ennahda developed a voter base drawn both from those who are ideologically committed to its religious program as well as those who requested constituency service from an Ennahda member. By showing that programmatic and particularistic appeals explain voter support for Islamist parties, this research extends the literature on Islam and politics and illustrates the importance of party capacity for developing a voter base in transitional contexts.
Social Politics (Forthcoming)
Governments promote gender-sensitive policies, yet little is known about why reform campaigns evo... more Governments promote gender-sensitive policies, yet little is known about why reform campaigns evoke backlash. Drawing on social position theory, we test whether marginalized (women’s organizations) or intrusive (western donors) messengers cause resistance across public rights (quotas) and private rights (land reform). Using a framing experiment implemented among 1,704 Malawians, we find that females’ attitudes are unaffected by campaigns, while backlash occurs among patrilineal and matrilineal males. Backlash among men is more common for sensitive private rights (land reform) than public rights (quotas) and western donors than women’s organizations, suggesting complex effects generally more consistent with the intrusiveness hypothesis.
Forthcoming Digest of Middle East Studies
Does electing Islamist parties help or hurt women? Due to Ennahda winning a plurality in the 2011... more Does electing Islamist parties help or hurt women? Due to Ennahda winning a plurality in the 2011 elections and women obtaining 31% of seats, Tunisia offers an opportunity to test the impact of legislator gender and Islamist orientation on women’s representation. Using original 2012 surveys of 40 Tunisian parliamentarians (MPs) and 1,200 citizens, we find that electing female and Islamists MPs of both genders improves women’s symbolic and service responsiveness by increasing the likelihood that women are aware of and contact MPs. Electing Islamist female MPs has a positive impact on women’s symbolic and service responsiveness, but decreases the likelihood that men will interact with legislators. We argue that Islamist deputies are more responsive to women due to an Islamic mandate effect—that is, Islamist parties’ efforts to institutionalize their constituency relations, provide services to the marginalized through direct contact, and respect norms of piety by using female parliamentarians to reach women in sex-segregated spaces. While Islamist parties positively impact some aspects of women’s representation, they also reinforce traditional understandings of gender relations. Our results extend literature on Islam, gender, and governance by demonstrating that quotas and party institutionalization improve women’s representation in clientelistic contexts.
Mediterranean Politics (2021)
Extant literature suggests that public support for peace accords plays a role in their durability... more Extant literature suggests that public support for peace accords plays a role in their durability. Yet while the Abraham Accords represent a significant rapprochement between the governments of Israel and several Arab countries, the region is marked by the conditions of violence and insecurity that harm social trust and reduce the likelihood of conciliatory views. Using Arab Barometer data from twelve countries (2012-2014), I explore the factors that lead Arab citizens to be more supportive of normalization with Israel. I argue that while instability undermines the demand for peace, civil society engagement develops bonding and bridging social capital that supports conciliatory views. I find that perceived insecurity is negatively related to support for Arab-Israeli peace, yet greater social capital, in the form of tolerance, associational membership, and social media use, produced demand for peace. The largest predictors of attitudes toward Israel are country of residence and religious identity, with Sunni and Shi’a Muslims being less conciliatory toward Israel than Christians. Additionally, contrary to assumptions underlying US foreign policy, participating in politics by voting in democratic or authoritarian elections or protesting were related to lower demand for peace. Demographic change, including younger, more educated populations, was unrelated to attitudes toward Israel, but the data largely supported modernization theory as a predictor of conciliatory views. By illustrating the role that civil society and perceived security play in improving the conditions for peace, the results have implications for scholars of security studies and policymakers working to support democracy and peacemaking in the region.
Women’s Studies International Forum, 2021
Incumbency advantage and corruption are persistent features of Malawi politics, yet the incumbent... more Incumbency advantage and corruption are persistent features of Malawi politics, yet the incumbent Joyce Banda lost the 2014 elections. Drawing on national public opinion surveys and focus groups, we explore why incumbency advantage did not accrue to Banda. We argue that faced with a major corruption scandal, “Cashgate,” Banda paid a heavier price than male incumbents facing corruption scandals before and after her. Her electoral fate is consistent with studies demonstrating that women holding political offices are scrutinized more heavily than men, and when they transgress female gender stereotypes of incorruptibility, they are judged using a higher standard.
Journal of Theoretical Politics (2021)
Why do some poor people engage in clientelism whereas others do not? Why does clientelism sometim... more Why do some poor people engage in clientelism whereas others do not? Why does clientelism sometimes take traditional forms and sometimes more instrumental forms? We propose a formal model of clientelism that addresses these questions focusing primarily on the citizen’s perspective. Citizens choose between supporting broad-based redistribution or engaging in clientelism. Introducing insights from social psychology, we study the interactions between citizen beliefs and values, and their political choices. Clientelism, political inefficacy, and inequality legitimation beliefs reinforce each other leading to multiple equilibria. One of these resembles traditional clientelism, with disempowered clients that legitimize social inequalities. Community connectivity breaks this reinforcement mechanism and leads to another equilibrium where clientelism takes a modern, instrumental, form. The model delivers insights on the role of citizen beliefs for their bargaining power as well as for the persistence and transformation of clientelism. We illustrate the key mechanisms with ethnographic literature on the topic.
Journal of Middle East and Africa, 2021
Some Somali majority clan girls and women receive economic and security benefits from marriage to... more Some Somali majority clan girls and women receive economic and security benefits from marriage to Al-Shabaab fighters. Yet the literature treats women’s experiences monolithically, missing the role that race plays in determining the circumstances of the unions. We argue that the unions of Somali Bantu girls and women with Al-Shabaab fighters should not be referred to as ‘marriage’ but rather sexual and domestic slavery—a form of extraction by Al-Shabaab that works to ethnically cleanse the Bantu from their ancestral land. Drawing on data from an original survey conducted in 2007 of 139 Somali Bantu refugee households who fled to Kenya in the previous year, we examine the nature and extent of unions between females from different races with Al-Shabaab fighters. Women and girls from majority clans are more likely to freely marry fighters. Compared to majority clan females, Somali Bantu girls are enslaved by Al-Shabaab fighters at younger ages and typically remain with their own families rather than moving to the man’s household, contrary to Somali’s patrilineal marriage customs. Al-Shabaab fighters do not claim the children they have with Somali Bantu girls and women, whom they despise as a racially-distinct minority with low social status. Our work underscores the need to avoid the term ‘marriage’ when referring to the sexual slavery of minorities in Somalia by Al-Shabaab and for the international community to both investigate claims of ethnic cleansing as well as support the fledgling Somali government in establishing a system of rule of law.
Mediterranean Politics, 2020
Scholars and democracy promoters often suggest that electoral observers’ (EOs’) assessments impac... more Scholars and democracy promoters often suggest that electoral observers’ (EOs’) assessments impact public opinion in a straightforward manner, yet, research on communication cautions against these sanguine assumptions. We test the impact of EO statements on public opinion in two very different contexts using survey experiments conducted among 3,361 Jordanians and Tunisians. Our results demonstrate the need for democracy promoters to consider negative consequences when implementing democracy promotion programs, and for scholars to undertake further research regarding the impacts of election monitoring on domestic attitudes.
Lindsay J. Benstead. 2021. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Patriarchy: The Importance of Feminist Theory.” Mediterranean Politics 10(2): 234-246. DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2020.1729627, 2021
‘Patriarchy’ is increasingly part of the political science lexicon, especially in relation to the... more ‘Patriarchy’ is increasingly part of the political science lexicon, especially in relation to the Middle East and North Africa. Yet political scientists often under-conceptualize patriarchy and fail to draw on existing feminist theory, hindering explanation of the mechanisms sustaining gender inequality. By engaging with Kandiyoti’s ‘patriarchal bargain,’ which sees gender relations as the outcome of negotiation, and Sadiqi’s ‘private’ and ‘public’ patriarchy, political scientists can capture the multi-dimensional and intersectional nature of patriarchy and better integrate their work within institutional approaches to political science. I illustrate the multi-dimensionality of patriarchy using survey questions from the Arab Barometer.
Comparative Politics, 2021
Most literature on electoral behavior in the developing world and studies of women’s electability... more Most literature on electoral behavior in the developing world and studies of women’s electability focus on single traits—e.g., religion, gender, ethnicity. Yet, candidate identities affect electability intersectionally—i.e., identities are mutually constituted by social hierarchies, leading to complex, interactive effects—in ways that are underexplored in political science. Using an original survey experiment conducted among 1,499 Jordanians in 2014, we explore the effects of multiple, intersecting candidate identities (i.e., gender, tribe, and Islamist) on voter preferences. Respondents at random receive statements about male or female candidates who are Islamists or co-tribalists and rate their likelihood of voting for each. We argue and show empirically that existing theories of electoral behavior—e.g., gender role congruity, power relations, and social identification theories—cannot account for women’s marginalization without an intersectional approach. Although less electable overall, female candidates fare as well as comparable males; female Islamists are as electable as male Islamists and female co-tribalists as male co-tribalists. Among some voters, women fare better than men from similar groups. Our findings underscore the need to extend intersectionality to theories of electoral behavior in the developing world, laying the groundwork for a larger research agenda seeking to understand female electability.
The Journal of Middle East and Africa
Tunisia’s 2018 municipal elections, in which a legislated quota was implemented and women won 47 ... more Tunisia’s 2018 municipal elections, in which a legislated quota was implemented and women won 47 percent of seats, raises questions about whether electing female councilors improves women’s representation in clientelistic settings. Using data from the Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI), an original survey of 3,600 Tunisians conducted in 2015 by the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD), this paper investigates the relationship between local councilors’ gender and women’s access to help with personal or community issues. Three findings emerge. First, male citizens are thirteen percentage points more likely to know a local councilor and six percentage points more likely to have contacted a councilor for help. Second, citizens of both genders are twice as likely to contact a councilor of the same gender when asking for help with community problems. Finally, electing females increases women’s access to councilors, due to network homosociality—that is, denser personal networks with others of the same gender—but has a limited impact on men’s access because female councilors have more hetersocial networks. By showing that electing and appointing women improves service and allocation responsiveness to females, the results call attention to the need to address gender equity issues when drafting electoral laws and implementing decentralization laws.
Journal of North African Studies (2018)
Drawing on Arab Barometer data, this article provides the backdrop for understanding continuity a... more Drawing on Arab Barometer data, this article provides the backdrop for understanding continuity and change since the Arab Spring in national-level public opinion attitudes toward economic and political foreign policy issues in North Africa, inclusive of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. The article leverages the concepts of differentiation and diffusion to understand how international affairs shape public opinion in North Africa since the Arab Spring. Three findings emerge. First, public opinion about domestic and international issues are linked in the minds of North African citizens and foreign policy issues are more important factors underlying pre- and post-Arab Spring politics than are often recognized. Especially in the post-Arab Spring era, Arab citizens widely see external interference as a problem and this perception increased in every North African country between 2013 and 2016. Moreover, there is considerable variation across and within North African states in attitudes toward economic and political foreign policy issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict and attitudes about economic and security relationships with Israel. Anti-Israeli sentiment increased substantially in the years leading up to and following the Arab Spring. Finally, since the Arab Spring, anti-Americanism, as measured by negative perceptions of U.S. culture, has declined in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, but risen slightly in Egypt, even as North Africans demonstrate increased support for a U.S. role in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict during this same time period. These trends suggest that anti-Americanism is highly dependent on specific domestic and international developments and is highly complex in the Arab world.
Traditional leadership often coexists with modern political institutions, yet we know little abou... more Traditional leadership often coexists with modern political institutions, yet we know little about how traditional and state authority cues—or those from male or female sources—affect public opinion. Using an original survey experiment of 1,381 Malawians embedded in the 2016 Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI), we randomly assign respondents into one of four treatment groups or a control group to hear messages about a child marriage reform from a female or male traditional authority (TA) or parliamentarian. In the sample as a whole, the female TA is as effective as the control (i.e., no endorsement), while other messengers elicit lower support (i.e., backfire effects). Endorsements produce heterogeneous effects across respondent sex and patrilineal/matrilineal customs, suggesting the need for tailored programs. Our analysis adds an intersectional approach to the governance literature, suggesting a theoretical framework that enables us to explain the impact of state and traditional endorsements across policy domains.
PS: Political Science & Politics
Survey research has expanded in the Arab world since the 1980s. The Arab spring marked a watershe... more Survey research has expanded in the Arab world since the 1980s. The Arab spring marked a watershed when surveying became possible in Tunisia and Libya, and questionnaires included previously censored questions. Almost every Arab country is now included in the Arab Barometer or World Values Survey and researchers have assembled numerous datasets to help answer theoretical and policy questions. Yet some scholars express the view that the Arab survey context is more challenging than other regions or that respondents will not answer honestly. I argue that this position reflects biases that assume “Arab exceptionalism” more than it does fair and objective assessments of data quality. Based on cross-national data analysis, I find evidence of systematically missing data in all regions and political regimes globally. These challenges and the increasing openness of some countries to survey research should spur studies on the data collection process in the Arab world and beyond.
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) has increasingly been used in developing countries... more Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) has increasingly been used in developing countries, but literature and training on best practices have not kept pace. Drawing on our experiences using CAPI to implement the Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI) in Tunisia and Malawi and an election study in Jordan, this paper makes practical recommendations for mitigating challenges and leveraging CAPI’s benefits to obtain high quality data. CAPI offers several advantages. Tablets facilitate complex skip patterns and randomization of long question batteries and survey experiments, helping reduce measurement error. Tablets’ Global Positioning System (GPS) technology reduce sampling error by lo-cating sampling units and facilitating analysis of “neighborhood effects.” Immediate data uploading, time-stamps for individual questions, and interview duration capture allowed real time data quality checks and interviewer monitoring. Yet, CAPI entails challenges, including costs of learning new software, questionnaire programming, and piloting to re-solve coding bugs, as well as ethical and logistical considerations, including electricity and Internet connectivity.
Do voters regard male and female candidates equally? Does apparent religiosity of candidates help... more Do voters regard male and female candidates equally? Does apparent religiosity of candidates help or hurt their electoral chances? Where biases exist, what explains them? We present a novel explanation of political bias, drawing from role congruity theory. It posits that political contexts shape citizens’ perceptions of qualities that make a “capable leader,” which subsequently drives their willingness to vote for candidates. Evidence from a survey experiment embedded in the 2012 Tunisian Post-Election Survey demonstrates that this theory explains biases based on gender and religiosity better than dominant modernization and social identity theories. Moreover, these mechanisms are also likely to drive political biases related to other features and in other countries. This has important implications for policymakers aiming to reduce political biases in Tunisia, the MENA, or globally. It should encourage
them to pay careful attention to stereotyped traits of underrepresented groups and successful leaders, and to use institutional solutions (e.g., electoral quotas) to shape expectations about underrepresented groups and leadership.
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Peer Reviewed Journal Articles by Lindsay J Benstead
Abstract
Despite growing evidence of pro-female bias in the electorate elsewhere, conventional wisdom holds that voters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) prefer male candidates, presumably due to sexism. We test this conventional wisdom using a conjoint experiment administered to over 30,000 respondents in six MENA countries. We find both male and female respondents are more likely to express support for female candidates and see them as more capable than their male counterparts, even in stereotypically male domains. We argue the increasing demand for political outsiders explains these results. In highlighting the importance of such changes, our study expands the application of gender congruity theory in the MENA and beyond by offering evidence that both changes in gender stereotypes (i.e., gender roles) and in what citizens desire in leaders (i.e., leader roles) reduce anti-female bias at the polls.
them to pay careful attention to stereotyped traits of underrepresented groups and successful leaders, and to use institutional solutions (e.g., electoral quotas) to shape expectations about underrepresented groups and leadership.