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中现有腐败动态的两个重要手段。然而，在一些国家，腐败的政客经常获得连任，从而加剧了腐败的持续存在。该项目旨在了解选民何时以及为何惩罚腐败的政客。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)选民的党派关系水平对选民投票反对腐败政治家的决定的影响。该项目将开展一项带有嵌入式实验的调查，以揭示巴西选民惩罚腐败政客的机制。巴西有168名立法委员面临刑事指控或正在接受调查。此次以2000多名选民为对象进行的调查，将让受访者了解不同腐败类型的候选人选择、政党、法院对候选人腐败的判决。这项研究填补了腐败文献的空白，并提供了一个关于政治决定因素（如政党制度和党派依恋）如何调节腐败观念的视角。该项目加深了我们对改变政府腐败动态的两种重要手段的理解：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旨在向公民通报候选人腐败的信息运动战略。最后，这项工作涉及巴西的政治科学和法律界，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.