Nancy F.Hite
PhD Candidate, degree expected May 2012
Subfield: Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Empirical Methods and International Relations
Research and Teaching Interests: Comparative Political Economy of Developing States, Empirical and Experimental Research Methods, Micro-politics of Development, Comparative Political Behavior and Psychology, Corruption and Development.
Dissertation Title: “Economic Modernization and the Disruption of Patronage Politics: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines.”
Committee: Susan Rose-Ackerman (Chair), Donald Green and Susan Stokes
Dissertation Abstract:
The question motivating this work is: how do changing economic circumstances influence citizens’ political engagement and perceptions of the state? My dissertation unpacks the “endogenous” relationship between economic development and democracy by measuring the effect of expanding market access on individual political behavior. To this end, it employs a field experiment to test the influence of economic development on political engagement. I extend the experimental evidence with ethnographic fieldwork, original surveys and spatial analysis, all undertaken in the Philippines. Together, the quantitative research design and extensive qualitative fieldwork offer a window into the thinking of individual voters caught in the crosshairs of market formalization. The study finds - in contrast to the view that economic growth increases democratic prospects - that increased access to financial markets may initially decrease political participation in developing democracies.
Email: nancy.hite@yale.edu
Personal Web Page: http://www.nancyfhite.com/
