Replication Data for: Getting on the Grid: A Field Experiment on Bottom-Up Political Pressure and Access to Essential Public Servicesdoi:10.7910/DVN/EO04JHHarvard Dataverse2026-03-091Thomas, Anjali; Gaikwad, Nikhar, 2026, "Replication Data for: Getting on the Grid: A Field Experiment on Bottom-Up Political Pressure and Access to Essential Public Services", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EO04JH, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:t5jItk6xdNKrSKXrwUcJPw== [fileUNF]Replication Data for: Getting on the Grid: A Field Experiment on Bottom-Up Political Pressure and Access to Essential Public Servicesdoi:10.7910/DVN/EO04JHThomas, AnjaliGaikwad, NikharAnjali ThomasNikhar GaikwadHarvard DataverseAnjali ThomasThomas, Anjali2026-02-09Social Sciencespublic service provisionfield experimentbureaucratic politicscollective actionurban politicscivil society organizationsWater is essential for human life, yet governments frequently leave vulnerable citizens to rely on informal channels for access. What can motivate governments to provide public services such as water to citizens trapped in informality? We theorize how accessing state services involves distinct strategic interactions between citizens, bureaucrats, and politicians at different formalization stages. A large factorial field experiment in Mumbai's informal settlements reveals that a bureaucratic facilitation drive significantly improved citizens' ability to access municipal water connections in policy-eligible settlements, but only when combined with a bottom-up political coordination campaign targeting elected officials. While bureaucratic assistance helped citizens through the petitioning stage of the formalization process, political pressure was needed to ensure service delivery in the infrastructural stage more open to political influence. Our findings illuminate how specific citizen empowerment campaigns reshape the incentives of otherwise reluctant bureaucrats and politicians to provide marginalized groups their basic human rights.This dataset underwent an independent verification process, complying with the AJPS Verification Policy updated June 2023, which replicated the tables and figures in the primary article. For the supplementary materials, verification was performed solely for the successful execution of the code. The verification process was carried out by the Cornell Center for Social Sciences at Cornell University. <br></br> The associated article has been awarded the Open Materials Badge. Learn more about the Open Practice Badges from the <a href="https://www.cos.io/">Center for Open Science</a>. <br></br> <img src="https://socialsciences.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/materials_large_color.png" alt="Open Materials Badge " width="60" height="60"> <br></br> Open Materials BadgeThomas, A., & Gaikwad, N. (2026). Replication Data for: Getting on the Grid: A Field Experiment on Bottom-Up Political Pressure and Access to Essential Public Services [Data set]. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EO04JH <br></br>ML Infomap. 2011. Mumbai Ward Boundaries and Census Information, 2011. Princeton University Geospatial Center. Shapefile. <br></br>BMC Election Department. MCGM General Election 2017, 2017 Winner Election Candidates Gazette. Available at https://portal.mcgm.gov.in. <br></br>The <i>American Journal of Political Science</i> and the Cornell Center for Social Sciences are not responsible for the accuracy or quality of data uploaded within the <i>AJPS</i> Dataverse, for the use of those data, or for interpretations or conclusions based on their use.This dataset is made available with limited information on how it can be used. You may wish to communicate with the Contact(s) specified before use.baseline_descriptivecovariates_cleaned.tab688419text/tab-separated-valuesUNF:6:1KhS+M2lsGsQEGNaMEvP5g==Data file containing variables used for descriptives from the baseline survey.merged_data_preserved_cleaned.tab933445text/tab-separated-valuesUNF:6:JDokztKQg3wdcbCUc7bLEw==Data file containing responses from endline survey merged with baseline survey.merged_midline_all_analysis_cleaned.tab832937text/tab-separated-valuesUNF:6:GBUpQcIlT/v6nuarvlIjRg==Data file containing responses from midline survey merged with baseline 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Data Analysis Getting on the Grid.RmdCode file to produce the figures and tables in the appendix except for Figure S2.text/x-r-notebookFigureS2_PowerAnalysis.RmdCode file to produce Appendix Figure S2text/x-r-notebookGetting on the Grid Codebook.pdfCodebook containing descriptions and sources of all variables.application/pdfMANUSCRIPT Data Analysis Getting on the Grid.RmdCode file to produce the figures and tables in the manuscript.text/x-r-notebookREADME.txtRead me filetext/plain