 Anirudh Krishna, Poverty and Democratic Participation Reconsidered: Evidence from the Local Level in India Conventional wisdom suggests that a direct relationship exists between greater wealth and higher democratic participation. However, an original database compiled for fifty-three governments in two states in northern India, including interviews with over 2,000 village residents, shows that information, education, and gender are more important for democratic participation, while wealth and social status matter relatively little. Policies that enable people to educate and inform themselves better should help raise poor people¡¯s stakes in democracy. |