THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF PUBLIC GOODS PROVISION: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Citizen engagement remains a crucial element for strengthening governance and the relationship between states and citizens. In studying political behavior, scholars have often found socioeconomic factors like income and education to be determinants of political participation in advanced democracies. However, in emerging democracies and hybrid regimes like those in Africa, education and income do not predict participation. Therefore, what explains political participation? A huge aspect of the research on political behavior in Africa also posits that neopatrimonialism and clientelism shape participation in African countries. Contrary to conventional explanations of state-society relationships that focus on clientelism and neopatrimonialism, this study moves from the macro-level explanations to more micro-level explanations for understanding governance in sub-Saharan Africa. This dissertation study is focused on questions of service delivery and citizen engagement in the developing world. An overarching theme is to understand state-society relationships and governance in younger democracies. Using Nigeria, as a case study, I examine the link between service delivery and political participation. I ask what the determinants of citizen engagement and political participation in sub-Saharan Africa are; and argue that political attitudes differ depending on who provides the basic goods and services. I argue that state-provision of goods and services increases various forms of political participation and citizen engagement; and that non-state provision reduces political participation and leads to a weak state. In addition, this study delineates the differences among various non-state provision, arguing that self-provision further diminishes participation and weakens state-society relationships. There has been a lot of research done on the determinants of basic goods and services like education, health, and basic infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the research on the effects of these goods, particularly on political attitudes, and more broadly, democratic institutions, is relatively scarce. This study fills this gap by examining the effects of various providers of basic goods and services on the proclivity of citizens to engage and participate in politics and governance. This dissertation therefore examines the political consequences of the provision of basic goods and services. To answer the research questions posed in this dissertation, this project uses an original micro-level survey experiment conducted during field research in Nigeria in 2018 and 2019. In addition to survey and quantitative data, this dissertation also employs other qualitative data from field research including in-depth interviews of civil society actors, government officials, political elites, academics and researchers, members of staff of NGOs, ordinary citizens and focus group discussions. By examining the political consequences of the provision of basic goods and services, this dissertation is a theoretically driven attempt to explore state-society relationship and to further understand governance in younger democracies. The question of goods and service provision has implications for the state, non-state actors, and citizens, and provides a comprehensive approach for understanding development in Africa.