This document serves as the baseline report for the impact evaluation of USAID/Peru’s program, La lucha contra la influencia de los intereses ilegales en los procesos políticos del Perú. The impact evaluation is conducted through USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG Center) in Washington, D.C. This program, which targets activities in the regions of Loreto and Ucayali, provides citizens with information about corruption in elections, specifically illegal campaign finances from illegal industries (mining, logging, and narcotrafficking). Better-informed citizens are expected to be more likely to monitor and sanction politicians linked to corrupt practices. This evaluation tests these expectations.

In addition to measuring how information about this kind of political corruption affects citizen attitudes, this evaluation attempts to address how different frames about the dangers of corrupt candidates as well as the mode by which people receive information affect people’s beliefs and political behaviors. The program and evaluation will run through the general elections in Peru in April 2016.