"Fondation Hirondelle’s Studio Sifaka radio project is designed to increase youth political engagement, efficacy, knowledge, support for democratic norms, and tolerance of salient out-groups in Madagascar. This report presents the findings of a field experiment using a symmetric encouragement design to evaluate the effects of one Sifaka program—Débat des Jeunes—which sought to achieve these outcomes through a daily discussion program on issues relevant to civic life in Madagascar. A nationally representative sample of Malagasy youth (ages 18-34) registered with a free, phone-based information service was invited to listen to editions of Débat des Jeunes or a placebo program of identical length—Sifaka’s health focused Santé Nakà—once a week, for a six-week period. Listenership was incentivized with post-program quizzes, with rewards for successful completion. Treatment assignment alone had few significant effects on outcomes of interest. However, factoring in actual exposure to the assigned treatment, we find evidence of statistically significant effects on a range of outcomes of interest, nearly all of which are in the intended direction. Namely, compared to those exposed to Santé Nakà, those exposed to Débat des Jeunes saw larger increases in political engagement (i.e. discussion of politics and attendance at community meetings), efficacy and assessments of speech freedoms, support for inclusion and dialogue in decision-making processes, and rejection of electoral malfeasance. The discussion program did, however, increase ethnic attachments over national
ones. Overall, however, the evaluation suggests the program is effective in many of its goals. Policy makers might therefore want to consider the potential benefits of supporting dialogue-focused media programming in similar contexts." (Abstract)