The choice of Sierra Leone as a case-study is also motivated by historical and policy considerations. Sierra Leone’s post-colonial history offers a compelling and dramatic example of the vicious links between poor government performance, popular distrust toward state authorities and violence. Over time, the looting of state resources by predatory elites combined with the institutional weakness of the state apparatus contributed to the collapse of public services. These circumstances quickly catalyzed armed groups’ recruitment efforts, leading to escalation of violence and civil war (Humphreys and Weinstein, 2008; Kpundeh, 1995; Reno, 1995; Richards, 1996). Understanding whether the Government of Sierra Leone’s and donors’ focus on strengthening local service provision has contributed to overcoming longlasting patterns of distrust by driving positive changes in citizens’ beliefs toward political authority is a critical policy input. Focusing on Sierra Leone can contribute to informing ongoing debates on the best available strategies to support sub-national governments and maximize resource allocations in post-conflict states. Given the large amount of government and donor resources channeled to sub-national governments, the policy relevance of such an analysis is important. Drawing on these data, we now turn to empirically test the effects of local government performance on citizens’ beliefs about the trustworthiness of local government authorities.

# **4 Data, Measures and Methods**

## **4.1 Data**

To test our hypotheses and control for alternative explanations, we rely on four sources of data (i) the 2005, 2007 and 2008 National Public Service (NPS) household surveys and the 2007 and 2008 community surveys; (ii) the 2004 Sierra Leone Census of population and Households; (iii) district level data on fiscal transfers from 2006 and 2007 (disaggregated by sector); and (iv) the 2006 and 2008 Comprehensive Local Government Performance Assessment System (CLoGPAS).

The NPS surveys are designed to be nationally representative. The country was stratified by local council areas. Enumeration areas (EA) were then selected in each local council according to the size of the population living in that local council area, with over-sampling of small local council areas.<sup>1</sup> An EA is roughly equivalent in size to a village in rural areas (80 to 100 households) and a neighborhood in urban areas (100 to 120 households). Within each enumeration area, ten households were selected from the 2004 census books and surveyed. Surveyors interviewed an adult member of the household, usually the head or spouse, alternating between interviewing male and female respondents.<sup>2</sup> In each of the three rounds, 2005, 2007 and 2008, about 6,300 household members were interviewed. The three 1In rural areas, an EA is about equal to a medium sized village or a small village and surrounding hamlets. There are about 9,600 EAs in Sierra Leone, with an average population of 483. Sixty-three percent of rural EAs contain only one locality, or village, and 90 percent consist of three localities or less (Glennerster, Miguel and Rothenberg, 2010, pp. 6-7).

> 2In 2008, the final sample was 47 percent female and 53 percent male. The 2007 survey shows equivalent figures.

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