Do You Have “Connections” at the Courthouse? An Original Survey on Informal Influence and Judicial Rulings in Morocco

Abstract

Under what conditions do citizens of developing countries view judges as neutral and fair or biased and arbitrary? This study addresses this topic through an original, nationally representative survey from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Conducted in Morocco, the survey is the first of its kind to gauge attitudes about how a citizen’s informal influence facilities getting favorable rulings from judges. It finds that 82 percent of respondents believe that citizens with “connections”—known as wasta in Arabic—get favorable rulings. Yet some citizens more strongly value informal influence, especially rural individuals, women, and ethnic minorities. The survey shows that believing in informal influence considerably lowers citizen trust in the authoritarian regime’s courts and institutions, which some scholars consider an asset for democratization. However, because the citizens most likely to value informal influence are marginalized or embedded in regime clientelism, their low trust may not easily translate into strong advocacy for democracy. Meanwhile, the citizens most able to advocate for democratization—the Francophone petite bourgeoisie—disproportionately deny the importance of informal influence in regime institutions.