Leonard Wantchekon

Professor of Politics. Path-breaker methodologically, particularly with his World Politics article, based on a field experiment in which he actually enlisted presidential candidates from four different parties in Benin to alter campaign messages across a random selection of villages in an effort to estimate the relative appeal of programmatic vs. clientelistic messages to voters. More important than the methods, however, is the substance of Wantchekon's work. Ultimately, he is motivated by his own personal history, initially as a pro-democracy student leader-and, subsequently, as a political prisoner, then refugee from Benin-during the 1980s. He explores the factors that make conflict resolution possible, credible, and stable; and that make democratic representation viable and responsive to citizens. His articles on democratization in post-conflict environments emphasize the potential for productive investment by citizens to induce warlords to favor the construction of democratic institutions, and for international arbiters to contribute to the stability of such pacts. His recent articles on policy deliberation show how deliberative campaign strategies can promote issue-based voting and limit clientelism and vote-buying. Scholarship is motivated by equally strong commitments to democracy and on good governance and to developing social science methods that will allow us to make accurate and unbiased estimates about its development and performance.