This impact evaluation explores the effects of two initiatives to increase low voter turnout and political participation in Mozambique. One of the possible explanations for Mozambique’s low turnout and limited participation is insufficient information about political and public issues. In low information contexts, citizens may have weaker motivations to participate, or they may believe that decisions should be left to more informed citizens. Lack of information does appear to be a challenge in Mozambique, as there is a dearth of newspapers, and newspaper readership is extremely low. As such, this impact evaluation asks if distribution of a free newspaper with information about upcoming elections can increase voter turnout and other forms of political participation.In addition, given the commonality and effectiveness of voter turnout drives in many countries, Mozambican turnout and other political participation could also be increased through more concerted mobilization efforts. New communication technology offers a low cost and previously unavailable mechanism to promote such participation. As a result, this evaluation asks if SMS campaigns can increase political participation, and, if they can, what type of SMS campaign is most effective.
