Can Television Bring Down a Dictator? Evidence from Chile's “No” Campaign

Can televised political advertising change voting behavior in elections held in authoritarian regimes? We study the case of Chile, where the opposition used television campaigns weeks before the election that ended the Pinochet regime. We show that after campaigns were launched, firms linked to Pino...

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Autores:
Tipo de recurso:
Fecha de publicación:
2017
Institución:
Universidad del Rosario
Repositorio:
Repositorio EdocUR - U. Rosario
Idioma:
spa
OAI Identifier:
oai:repository.urosario.edu.co:10336/13630
Acceso en línea:
https://doi.org/10.48713/10336_13630
http://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/13630
Palabra clave:
Comunicaciones, Telecomunicaciones
D72, P26
Television
Dictatorship
Elections
Transition
Televisión y política
Dictadura
Dictadores
Campañas políticas
Campaña electoral
Rights
License
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Description
Summary:Can televised political advertising change voting behavior in elections held in authoritarian regimes? We study the case of Chile, where the opposition used television campaigns weeks before the election that ended the Pinochet regime. We show that after campaigns were launched, firms linked to Pinochet lost stock market value, confirming the contemporaneous importance of television. Using national surveys conducted before the election and administrative electoral data, we provide evidence of a positive effect of television exposure on opposition votes. These results suggest that televised political campaigns can help to defeat dictators at the polls.