%0 Report
        %A Sandholtz, Wayne Aaron
        %T The Politics of Public Service Reform
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Dec
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18346
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18346
        %X This paper provides experimental evidence on the electoral effect of a large education reform in a developing democracy. The reform significantly improved school quality on many dimensions (Romero, Sandefur, & Sandholtz, 2020). In this paper, I show that the reform reduced the incumbent party's pres- idential vote share by 2.1 percentage points (5%). The reform also reduced teachers' job satisfaction, support for the incumbent government, and political engagement. Electoral effects were positively correlated with effects on teachers' political engagement; the reform lost most votes where it caused greatest political disengagement of teachers.
        %K randomized controlled trial
%K elections
%K policy feedback
%K political economy
%K public service delivery
%K development
%K education
%K Liberia