Thesis Title:
Beyond Information: Understanding Public Support for Evidence-based Policies
Thesis Abstract:
Public support is critical for the adoption and success of policy reforms. Yet in many areas citizens often resist change even when the benefits are well established. Understanding how voters interpret evidence remains a gap, especially since even trained professionals show bias when evaluating information that challenges their existing beliefs. This research investigates why people disregard credible evidence, focusing on the influence of group identities, structural inequalities and privileges.
The criminal justice system offers a context through which to examine these processes. Despite strong evidence that alternative sanctions—such as electronic monitoring, community service, and rehabilitation programs—are more cost-effective and reduce reoffending, harsher approaches remain dominant in the US, the UK, and many developing countries, driven largely by enduring public support.
Using survey and behavioural experiments in Brazil — a country marked by severe prison overcrowding and pressing debates on reform — I study how citizens respond to evidence about efficiency of policies such as pre-trial detention, and how racial and socioeconomic bias in everyday law-enforcement practices, such as police reports, both reflects and reinforces public perceptions of crime. By uncovering these mechanisms, the research aims to inform strategies for building public support for fairer and more effective policies.
Primary Supervisor:
Dr Pedro Souza