Governance Uncovered: Local Politics and Development

Episode 25: This month, we talk to Ahmed al-Mukhaini , Independent Scholar and GLD Collaborating Researcher, about the recent political changes in Oman. In January 2021, Oman’s Sultan Haitham declared an end to the former succession system and proclaimed a new crown prince and Basic Law of the State to allow for the modernization and transformation of the Gulf nation’s economic, political, and soc...

Episode 24: This month, we talk to Intissar Kherigi, a Ph. D. student at Sciences Po Paris and GLD Collaborating Researcher, about Tunisia’s 2015-17 municipal boundary reforms. After the Arab uprisings in 2011, Tunisia saw changes in local governance and the adoption of a new constitution mandating the decentralization of power, leading the government to reorganize the country's municipal boundari...

Episode 23: This month we talk to GLD's Senior Research Fellow Kristen Kao about her work on post-conflict reconciliation in Iraq. Kristen tells us about her a study on the drivers of forgiveness versus revenge among diverse groups in Iraq and how her research could help promote long-term peace. Kristen Kao is a Senior Research Fellow with the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD) at t...

Episode 22: This month, we talk to Jeffrey Paller about rapid urbanization and politics in Ghana, Africa. Jeffrey recently published a book on the subject called " Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa " (Cambridge UP, 2019). Jeffrey is an Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco and the curator of the weekly news bulletin “ This Week in Africa .” He speci...

Episode 21: This month, we talk to Tuğba Bozçağa , Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative and Ph. D. student in Political Science at MIT. In 2018, Tugba received a GLD Short Term Grant to study social proximity among bureaucrats in Turkey. Tugba's research has culminated in this month's GLD working paper: The Social Bureaucrat: How Social Proximity among Bureaucrats Aff...

Episode 20: This month, we are joined by professor Simon Mabon , Lancaster University. We discuss his research on identity, (de-)sectarianism, and mobilization in Bahrain and the Middle East. Simon's research comprises two main strands: The first is the contestation of sovereign power across the region, where he is interested in relations between rulers and ruled, biopolitics, resistance, and the...

Episode 19: This month, we talk to Karen E. Ferree, Visiting Scholar at GLD Gothenburg from the University of California and part of GLD's Steering Committee. We talk about her latest research on how ethnic divisions shape voting behavior. Karen argues for a reorientation of how we think about ethnic voting, away from an exclusive focus on voters to one that links voter behavior to the supply side...

Episode 18: This month, we talk to Susan Whiting, Associate Professor of Political Science, and Tan Zhou, PhD Student, from the University of Washington. We discuss their latest research which looks at vote buying and land taking in China's village elections. They have recently published a paper on the subject called “ Farmland and Fraud: Land Rents and Vote Buying in China’s Village Elections .”...

Type: Recorded live radio panel-discussion from Zodiak Radio Malawi. Topic: Covid-19 and the fresh presidential elections. Host: Joab Frank ChakhazaGuests: Dr. Boniface Dulani (Lead researcher, GLD IPOR, Chancellor Collage), Dr. Henry Chingayipe (Governance and development specialist, IPRSE) and Professor Adamson Muula (Epidemiologist: College of Medicine)Language: Chichewa and EnglishDate: June 1...

Episode 17: This podcast is part of the project: Governance Under Decentralization: Oman And In The Arab Region . The project seeks to better understand the many challenges facing the decentralization process in transitioning states. This month we talk to Dr James Worrall about Oman. James discusses his latest research into Oman’s controlled-hybrid-decentralization process, so termed for its uniqu...

Episode 16: This month, we talk to Kevin Prine who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Outreach International . Outreach International is a charity that eliminates extreme poverty by creating leaders who transform their communities, a process they call Participatory Human Development. Kevin tells us about the organization and their approach to working with development. He discusses the...

Episode 15: This month we talk to Brian Leung Kai-Ping , a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Washington. You might also recognize Brian as the brave student activist who removed his mask during the storming of the Hong Kong Legislative Council Complex in July 2019. Brian talks about political mobilization, urban geography and what role it played in the student protests in...

This month, we welcome a guest from the Ghana Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, John-Paul Adjadeh. He discusses local politics and the resolution of chieftaincy disputes in Ghana with our director, Professor Ellen Lust. John-Paul Adjadeh graduated from the University of Ghana in 2018 with an MPhil in Public Administration. His research work focused on the interface between traditional...

Episode 13: This month we talk to Professor Peter Esaiasson (University of Gothenburg) about his latest research that looks at social identity in diverse and disadvantaged neighborhoods in Sweden. His research tries to understand whether identification with the neighborhood (local identity) and the nation state (national identity) generates pro-social attitudes among residents. The study by Esaias...

Episode 12: This month's podcast is part of a special series on migration. This episode features Claire Adida (University of California, San Diego) and her research surrounding mass migration, and its subsequent discourse, and how it affects host communities around the world. Claire Adida uses quantitative methods to study how countries manage new and existing forms of diversity. She has applied t...

Episode 11: This month we talk to Salma Mousa (PhD candidate, Stanford University) about her latest research which looks at the relationship between Christians and Muslims in postwar societies. Her research tries to understand if tolerance and prejudice can be changed through interaction between these groups. The study has been recently published as a GLD working paper called “ Creating Coexistenc...

Episode 10: In this month's Governance Uncovered podcast we are joined by Mine Eder (Professor of Political Science, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul) who discusses how migration in Turkey, specifically the influx of around 3.8 million Syrian refugees, has affected the country’s social and political landscape. Ideas about how the country is trying - and often failing - to integrate these new resident...

Episode 9: In this month's episode Jennifer Murtazashvili (University of Pittsburgh) and GLD Director, Ellen Lust, discusses national level reforms and decentralization in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Jennifer Murtazashvili is the Director of the Center for Governance and Markets and Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Her...

Episode 8: In this episode Geoffrey Hughes (University of Exeter) talks about his work in the recent GLD working paper " Tribes without Sheikhs? Technological Change, Media Liberalization, and Authority in Networked Jordan ." The discussion centres on the changing nature of authority due to the rapidly evolving media sector. Geoffrey Hughes is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Exeter...

Episode 7: In this special edition of the GLD podcast Boniface Dulani (Chancellor College, University of Malawi) discusses traditional leadership and authority in Malawi and the impact these structures have on the country's political system at both the local and national level. The podcast was recorded live in Malawi during a field visit as part of our ongoing SSA project. Boniface holds a Doctor...

Episode 6: Ian Shapiro discusses his new book " Responsible Parties: Saving Democracy from Itself " with GLD Director, Ellen Lust. Democracies across the world are adopting reforms to bring politics closer to the people. Parties have turned to primaries and local caucuses to select candidates. Ballot initiatives and referenda allow citizens to enact laws directly. Yet voters keep getting angrier....

Episode 5: Dominic Burbidge discusses his new book " An Experiment In Devolution, National Unity and the Deconstruction of the Kenyan State ." Following the introduction of a new constitution in 2010, Kenya has implemented one of the most radical and far-reaching decentralization programs in Africa. This podcast outlines the events leading up to the new constitution, as well as the ramifications o...

Episode 4: Pierre F. Landry discusses China's rapid urbanization and the institutional challenges that arise due to these seismic demographic shifts. The conversation centres on China's massive bureaucratic system and how both local and national levels of this system compete for financial resources and influence. Pierre F. Landry is a Professor of Government and Public Administration at the Chines...

Episode 3: Jon Pierre, professor of political science at Gothenburg University, discusses his 2011 book " The Politics of Urban Governance ." Outlining his four models on governance, Pierre explores the changing dynamics of governance and government in 21st-century cities, and discusses its implications on everyday living for the urban citizen. Jon Pierre is a research professor in the department...

Episode 2: Yeşim Arat discusses the ongoing political and demographic transformations in Turkey and their impacts on the country's key institutions, including the judiciary, the military, and the media. Yeşim (Yale College, BA 1978, Princeton University, Department of Politics, PhD 1983) is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University, Istan...