Many governments in semi-democratic regimes have adopted participatory democratic institutions to promote development and accountability. But limited resources, weak civil society, and a history of authoritarian politics make building subnational democratic institutions daunting. This book addresses several important questions surrounding participatory democratic institutions: do participatory institutions expand accountability, empower citizens, and advance development in these environments? Through administering a survey with embedded experiments surrounding citizens' development policy preferences to over 11,000 respondents in five Kenyan counties, Touchton and Wampler collect parallel qualitative data through participant observation and over 80 elite interviews and find limited evidence for transformative change from Kenyan PB. This book makes several contributions to advance academic and policy debates on participatory institutions and their impact on governance, accountability,
