Political Entry in Sierra Leone - Katherine Casey

Session description: How can communities identify and encourage more capable individuals to enter public office? This presentation examines a field intervention in Sierra Leone that combined community nominations, assessments of technocratic skills, and information sharing with political parties to identify high-quality local political candidates. The study finds that the process successfully uncovered candidates with stronger qualifications and broader public support than many existing officeholders and aspiring politicians. While these candidates were more likely to enter electoral politics,