Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311772 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Citation: 
[Journal:] Comparative Political Studies [ISSN:] 1552-3829 [Issue:] OnlineFirst [Publisher:] Sage [Place:] Thousand Oaks, CA [Year:] 2024 [Pages:] 1-51
Publisher: 
Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA
Abstract: 
Governments across the Global South have begun introducing biometric IDs (eIDs) in an attempt to improve citizen-state legibility. While such initiatives can improve government efficiency, they also raise important questions about citizen privacy, especially for groups with a history of mistrust in the state. If concerns about increased legibility produce differential uptake or changes in political behavior, eID initiatives may exacerbate societal inequalities. In a conjoint experiment with 2,072 respondents from four Kenyan regions, we examine how perceptions of and willingness to register for eID under different policy conditions vary across politically dominant, opposition, and “securitized” (heavily policed) ethnic groups. We find meaningful group-level variation in support for specific policy features, and suggestive evidence that policies facilitating surveillance may discourage opposition political participation. Our most surprising finding, however, is that there is such broad support for expanded legibility. The promise of access to government services appears to outweigh other considerations.
Subjects: 
legibility
surveillance
digitalization
Kenya
political inequality
ethnic politics
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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