Minority Politics and Public Goods Provision in India

This project is joint work with Melani Cammett, Akshay Dixit, and Poulomi Chakrabarti looking at how social status affects contributions to local public goods. In a survey experiment discussed in this paper, we examine this topic in the context of Hindus and Muslims in Delhi slums who need to coordinate to clear clogged drains in their alleyways. We find that mechanisms of social accountability are more effective among Muslims, and we attribute this effect to their routine exposure to discrimination and violence—terming this behavior “defensive cooperation.”

In a follow-up project, we aim to further explore the mechanisms through which the minority politics of Muslims in India shape willingness to contribute to public goods. We are developing a pre-analysis plan for a project to be fielded in 2023.