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Can Television Bring Down a Dictator? Evidence from Chile's “No" Campaign

Author

Listed:
  • Felipe González
  • Mounu Prem

Abstract

Can televised political advertising change voting behavior in elections held in authoritarian regimes? We study the case of Chile, where the opposition used television campaigns weeks before the election that ended the Pinochet regime. We show that after campaigns were launched, firms linked to Pinochet lost stock market value, confirming the contemporaneous importance of television. Using national surveys conducted before the election and administrative electoral data, we provide evidence of a positive effect of television exposure on opposition votes. These results suggest that televised political campaigns can help to defeat dictators at the polls.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe González & Mounu Prem, 2017. "Can Television Bring Down a Dictator? Evidence from Chile's “No" Campaign," Documentos de Trabajo 491, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    • Handle: RePEc:ioe:doctra:491
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    File URL: https://www.economia.uc.cl/docs/doctra/dt-491.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Martins, Armando N.G.L., 2025. "Democratic engagement in the shadow of authoritarian repression: Evidence from Chile (2019–2023)," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Aldunate, Felipe & González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & Urzúa, Francisco, 2020. "Privatization and business groups: Evidence from the Chicago Boys in Chile," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Ethan Kaplan & Fernando Saltiel & Sergio Urzúa, 2023. "Voting for Democracy: Chile's Plebiscito and the Electoral Participation of a Generation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 438-464, August.
    4. Gonzalez, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2021. "The Legacy of the Pinochet Regime," SocArXiv v5yjf, Center for Open Science.
    5. Gonzalez, Felipe & Coy, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & von Dessauer, Cristine, 2022. "Uncertainty from dictatorship to democracy: Evidence from business communications," SocArXiv gz934, Center for Open Science.
    6. Chatjuthamard, Pattanaporn & Ongsakul, Viput & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2022. "Corporate complexity, managerial myopia, and hostile takeover exposure: Evidence from textual analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    7. repec:osf:socarx:gz934_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. González, Felipe & Prem, Mounu, 2018. "The value of political capital: Dictatorship collaborators as business elites," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 217-230.
    9. María Angelica Bautista & Felipe González & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Muñoz & Mounu Prem, 2018. "The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship," Working papers 5, Red Investigadores de Economía.
    10. Bai, Yu & Li, Yanjun, 2020. "Good bye Chiang Kai-shek? The long-lasting effects of education under the authoritarian regime in Taiwan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. María Angélica Bautista & Felipe González & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Muñoz & Mounu Prem, 2025. "Dictatorship, Higher Education, and Social Mobility," Journal of Historical Political Economy, now publishers, vol. 4(4), pages 509-545, February.
    12. Bautista, María Angélica & Gonzalez, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of College: Evidence from the 1973 Coup in Chile," SocArXiv eyw2a, Center for Open Science.
    13. Engist, Oliver & Matzko, Paul & Merkus, Erik, 2024. "Conservative Talk Radio and political persuasion in the US,1950–1970," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 166-182.
    14. Matí­as Brum, 2018. "Do Dictatorships Affect People's Long Term Beliefs and Preferences? : An Empirical Assessment of the Latin American Case," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 18-18, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    15. Juan Pablo Atal & José Ignacio Cuesta & Felipe González & Cristóbal Otero, 2024. "The Economics of the Public Option: Evidence from Local Pharmaceutical Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(3), pages 615-644, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • L74 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - Construction

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