Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Effect of Courts and Party Labels in Leading Voters to Punish Corrupt Politicians: Evidence from Brazil

选举问责制和司法机构是改变政府现有腐败动态的两个重要手段。然而，在一些国家，腐败的政客经常连任，这加强了腐败的持久性。这个项目试图了解选民何时以及为什么要惩罚腐败的政客。这项工作的重点是(1)候选人腐败的类型，(2)法院裁决，(3)候选人的政党，以及(4)选民的党派偏见程度对选民投票反对腐败政客的决定的影响。该项目将开发一项内置实验的调查，揭示导致选民惩罚巴西腐败政客的机制。在巴西，168名国家议员面临刑事指控或正在接受调查。这项对2000名选民的调查将使受访者面临不同腐败类型、政党和法院对候选人腐败的裁决的候选人选择。这项研究填补了有关腐败的文献中的空白，并提供了一个关于政党制度和党派依恋等政治决定因素如何调解腐败观念的视角。该项目加深了我们对改变政府腐败动态的两个重要手段的理解：选举问责制和司法机构。这项研究还使政府机构和民间社会组织能够制定宣传活动的战略，旨在向公民通报候选人的腐败行为。最后，这项工作吸引了巴西的政治学和法律界，促进了跨境学术交流。

Electoral accountability and judicial institutions are two important means of changing existing corruption dynamics in government. Yet in a number of countries, corrupt politicians frequently get reelected, reinforcing the persistence of corruption. This project seeks to understand when and why voters punish corrupt politicians. The work focuses on the effect of (1) types of candidate corruption, (2) court rulings, (3) a candidate's political party, and (4) a voter's level of partisanship on the voter's decision to vote against a corrupt politician. The project will develop a survey with an embedded experiment that will shed light on the mechanisms that lead voters to punish corrupt politicians in Brazil, a country where 168 national legislators face criminal charges or are under investigation. The survey of 2,000 voters will expose respondents to candidate choices with varying corruption types, political parties, and court rulings on candidate corruption. This research fills a void in the literature on corruption, and offers a perspective on how political determinants, such as the party system and partisan attachments, mediate corruption perceptions. The project deepens our understanding of two important means of changing corruption dynamics in government: electoral accountability and judicial institutions. The research also enables government agencies and civil society organizations to craft strategies for information campaigns designed to inform citizens of candidate corruption. Finally, the work engages the political science and legal community in Brazil, facilitating cross-border scholarly exchange.