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How do campaigns and elections affect evaluations of democracy in transitional settings? Little research has been conducted on this topic in transitional settings, where citizens' evaluations of regime performance might be especially fluid and where popular dissatisfaction with democratic institutions could inhibit political development. Furthermore, previous studies' reliance on cross-sectional data has made it difficult to make valid causal inferences in this area. Drawing upon unique data from the 2010–2011 Uganda Campaign Panel Study, the first panel on campaign effects in Africa, we measure changes in individuals' satisfaction with democracy. We find that individuals who supported a losing presidential candidate are more likely to show decreases in satisfaction over the course of the campaign than those who supported the winner. Importantly, we find that previous political participation does not necessarily result in increases in democratic satisfaction: rather, it is associated with decreased satisfaction for losers. Finally, there is no evidence that declines in satisfaction with democracy are associated with decreased support for democracy as a regime. This study furthers understanding of political development by identifying factors that affect how citizens evaluate their political regime.

There are numerous studies of the effects of partisan cues in established party systems, but almost none on how they affect voting in new party systems. This lacuna might stem from untested assumptions that partisan cues are un-influential where parties lack multigenerational psychological bonds with citizens and long-standing records. Alternatively, we theorize that even in new party systems, voters use partisan cues to assess candidates' capabilities, preferences, and electoral viability. We test this theory through an experiment in which we varied inclusion of party identifiers on mock ballots in Uganda, where the multiparty system was only 5 years old. We find that partisan cues increased selection of major-party candidates over independents, casting of straight-ticket ballots, and votes for copartisans. Our results challenge the common assumption that partisan labels are irrelevant in new party systems. Partisan cues can influence political decision making, even when party systems are young.