INFORMATION AND QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE IN NON-DEMOCRATIC SETTINGS A Geospatial Analysis of Media Access and Quality of Public Service Provision in Uganda

Abstract: This thesis investigated whether access to a non-state-owned radio station can improve the provision of public services at the district level as aspect of quality of governance in Uganda, depending on the visibility and street-discretion of the service. Thereby, this work attempts to fill the research gap on media access and quality of governance in a non-democratic setting. Information provided through access to a radio station can reduce the information-asymmetry between the population and the public officials and between the central government and the local authorities. The reduction in information-asymmetry should increase the ability to hold the responsible authorities accountable and reduce hidden actions (e.g., bribe taking) and hidden type (e.g., incompetence) by local authorities. Thus, it should improve the public service provision. Further, it is argued that only for services with a low visibility and a high street-level discretion access to a radio station has an effect. The thesis examines the provision of infrastructure, health care and education, using a linear regression approach. The results show no significant effects of the access to radio on the provision of the different public services. Thus, the hypothesis that access to a non-state-owned radio channel improves the provision of public services is not supported. The thesis contributes to the existing literature by expanding the research of the effect of information to a non-democratic setting and supports the growing scepticism about the effectiveness of bottom-up accountability.