Political trust and informal traders in African cities

How do cities foster political trust among informal workers? This question is particularly salient in Africa's growing cities where local governments must reconcile policy priorities across highly heterogeneous constituencies, including a burgeoning middle-class and a large informal economy. We argu...

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Main Authors: Resnick, Danielle, Sivasubramanian, Bhavna
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Cambridge University Press 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139972
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author Resnick, Danielle
Sivasubramanian, Bhavna
author_browse Resnick, Danielle
Sivasubramanian, Bhavna
author_facet Resnick, Danielle
Sivasubramanian, Bhavna
author_sort Resnick, Danielle
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description How do cities foster political trust among informal workers? This question is particularly salient in Africa's growing cities where local governments must reconcile policy priorities across highly heterogeneous constituencies, including a burgeoning middle-class and a large informal economy. We argue that expectations about reciprocity and procedural justice shape the probability that informal traders trust their local government. In doing so, we analyse a survey of approximately 1000 informal traders in Ghana's three main cities – Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. We find that traders who paid requisite fees to local assemblies and could attribute a benefit from those payments were more likely to trust their local government while those who had experienced harassment by city authorities were less likely to do so. The paper highlights that drivers of trust among diverse urban constituencies deserve greater empirical and comparative attention, especially as countries deepen decentralisation initiatives and cities commit to development goals around inclusivity.
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spelling CGSpace1399722025-10-26T13:02:01Z Political trust and informal traders in African cities Resnick, Danielle Sivasubramanian, Bhavna urban areas capacity development economics government towns How do cities foster political trust among informal workers? This question is particularly salient in Africa's growing cities where local governments must reconcile policy priorities across highly heterogeneous constituencies, including a burgeoning middle-class and a large informal economy. We argue that expectations about reciprocity and procedural justice shape the probability that informal traders trust their local government. In doing so, we analyse a survey of approximately 1000 informal traders in Ghana's three main cities – Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. We find that traders who paid requisite fees to local assemblies and could attribute a benefit from those payments were more likely to trust their local government while those who had experienced harassment by city authorities were less likely to do so. The paper highlights that drivers of trust among diverse urban constituencies deserve greater empirical and comparative attention, especially as countries deepen decentralisation initiatives and cities commit to development goals around inclusivity. 2023-09 2024-03-14T12:08:47Z 2024-03-14T12:08:47Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139972 en Limited Access Cambridge University Press Resnick, Danielle; and Sivasubramanian, Bhavna. 2023. Journal of Modern African Studies 61(3): 389 - 412. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X23000125
spellingShingle urban areas
capacity development
economics
government
towns
Resnick, Danielle
Sivasubramanian, Bhavna
Political trust and informal traders in African cities
title Political trust and informal traders in African cities
title_full Political trust and informal traders in African cities
title_fullStr Political trust and informal traders in African cities
title_full_unstemmed Political trust and informal traders in African cities
title_short Political trust and informal traders in African cities
title_sort political trust and informal traders in african cities
topic urban areas
capacity development
economics
government
towns
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139972
work_keys_str_mv AT resnickdanielle politicaltrustandinformaltradersinafricancities
AT sivasubramanianbhavna politicaltrustandinformaltradersinafricancities