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

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  • González, Felipe
  • Prem, Mounu

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2017. "Can Television Bring Down a Dictator? Evidence from Chile’s “No” Campaign," Documentos de Trabajo 15681, Universidad del Rosario.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000092:015681
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    Cited by:

    1. Juan Pablo Atal & José Ignacio Cuesta & Felipe González & Cristóbal Otero, 2024. "The Economics of the Public Option: Evidence from Local Pharmaceutical Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(3), pages 615-644, March.
    2. Bautista, María Angélica & González, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2020. "Dictatorship, Higher Education, and Social Mobility," SocArXiv 6st9r, Center for Open Science.
    3. Aldunate, Felipe & González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & Urzúa, Francisco, 2020. "Privatization and business groups: Evidence from the Chicago Boys in Chile," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2018. "The value of political capital: Dictatorship collaborators as business elites," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 217-230.
    5. María Angelica Bautista & Felipe González & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Munoz & Mounu Prem, 2018. "The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship," Documentos de Trabajo 17007, Universidad del Rosario.
    6. Bai, Yu & Li, Yanjun, 2020. "Good bye Chiang Kai-shek? The long-lasting effects of education under the authoritarian regime in Taiwan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Gonzalez, F & Prem, M, 2021. "The Legacy of the Pinochet Regime," Documentos de Trabajo 19446, Universidad del Rosario.
    8. Bautista, María Angélica & Gonzalez, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of College: Evidence from the 1973 Coup in Chile," SocArXiv eyw2a, Center for Open Science.
    9. Engist, Oliver & Matzko, Paul & Merkus, Erik, 2024. "Conservative Talk Radio and political persuasion in the US,1950–1970," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 166-182.
    10. Matí­as Brum, 2018. "Do Dictatorships Affect People's Long Term Beliefs and Preferences? : An Empirical Assessment of the Latin American Case," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 18-18, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    11. Ethan Kaplan & Fernando Saltiel & Sergio S. Urzúa, 2019. "Voting for Democracy: Chile's Plebiscito and the Electoral Participation of a Generation," NBER Working Papers 26440, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Gonzalez, Felipe & Coy, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & von Dessauer, Cristine, 2022. "Uncertainty from dictatorship to democracy: Evidence from business communications," SocArXiv gz934, Center for Open Science.
    13. Chatjuthamard, Pattanaporn & Ongsakul, Viput & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2022. "Corporate complexity, managerial myopia, and hostile takeover exposure: Evidence from textual analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Television; dictatorship; elections; transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

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