Explore our research
CEDAR undertakes research projects, organise events, and work with academics and those beyond the academy to understand better elections, democracy, accountability and representation across the globe.
Elections, campaigns, and mobilisation
We examine elections and popular mobilisation across the world, and their broader effects on society, political stability, and democracy. In particular, members of CEDAR examine how campaigning explains election outcomes, and the consequences of digital technology for electoral manipulation.
Publications associated with Elections, campaigns, and mobilisation
Publications associated with Elections, campaigns, and mobilisation
Tim Haughton. 2026. ‘Political Parties’ in Petr Kopecky, Petra Guasti and Adam Fagan (eds), The Routledge Handbook of East European Politics, London: Routledge, forthcoming
Tim Haughton and Kevin Deegan-Krause. 2026. ‘The Continual Change of Party Systems’ in Paul Chaisty and Stephen Whitefield (eds) Handbook on Post-Communist Politics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Handbooks in Political Science, forthcoming
Tim Haughton. 2025, Clicks and Mortar: Campaigning in the 21st Century, Government and Opposition, 60 (4), pp. 1426–1445
Tim Haughton, David Cutts and Marek Rybar. 2025, A Narrow Path to Victory: Robert Fico, Smer-SD and the 2023 Parliamentary Elections in Slovakia, East European Politics and Societies online early
Tim Haughton, Alenka Krasovec and David Cutts. 2024, Jumping on the New Party Bandwagon: The 2022 Elections and the Development of Party Politics in Slovenia, Europe-Asia Studies, 76 (10), pp. 1526-1550
Nic Cheeseman, Karuti Kanyinga, Gabrielle Lynch and Justin Willis, 2024. Has Kenya democratized? Institutional strengthening and contingency in the 2022 general elections. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 18 (2), pp.240-260.
Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi, Gideon Uchechukwu Igwebueze, Omomayowa Olawale Abati, and Adeola Opeyemi Ogundotun. 2022. Political hibernation in‐between elections? Exploring the online communication and mobilisation capacities of Nigeria's political parties. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(S1), e2804.
Nic Cheeseman. 2022. Is multi-party democracy the best form of governance in African countries?, In William Moseley and Kefa Otiso (eds), Debating African Issues Conversations Under the Palaver Tree, Routledge.
David Cutts and Tim Haughton, 2021. Winning Votes and Influencing People: Campaigning in Central and Eastern Europe East European Politics, 37 (2), pp. 239-266
Tim Haughton. 2021. Ruling Divisions: the Politics of Brexit, Perspectives on Politics, 19 (4), pp. 1258-1263
Desatova, Petra. and Saowanee Alexander. 2021. Electoral Commissions and Non-Democratic Outcomes: Thailand’s Contentious 2019 Election, Politics, online first.
Tim Haughton, Marek Rybar and Kevin Deegan-Krause. 2021. Leading the Way, But Also Following the Trend: The Slovak National Party, Politics and Governance, 4 (9).
Nic Cheeseman, Justin Willis and Gabrielle Lynch. 2021. The history of elections in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda: What Can We Learn From These “National Exercises”?, Journal of African Elections 20, 2.
Nic Cheeseman, Justin Willis and Gabrielle Lynch. 2020. The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tim Haughton and Kevin Deegan-Krause. 2020. The New Party Challenge: Changing Patterns of Party Birth and Death in Central Europe and Beyond. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Nic Cheeseman. 2019. The Oxford Dictionary of African Politics, Oxford University Press
Democratic backsliding and resurgent authoritarianism
We explore the causes and consequences of democratic erosion and the rise of authoritarianism around the globe. In particular, members of CEDAR explain autocratic turns in Africa and Europe, as well as challenging some of the prevailing terminology.
Publications associated with Democratic backsliding and resurgent authoritarianism
Publications associated with Democratic backsliding and resurgent authoritarianism
Licia Cianetti. 2026. Democratic resilience and re-democratisation. East European Politics, 1–19.
Marie-Eve Desrosiers and Nic Cheeseman. 2026. The Rise of Authoritarian Middle Powers. Journal of Democracy, 37(2), 18-34
Licia Cianetti, Gianni Del Panta, and Catherine Owen. 2025. What is a “regime”? Three definitions and their implications for the future of regime studies. Democratization, 32(8), pp. 1972-1994
Matías Bianchi, Nic Cheeseman, and Jennifer Cyr. 2025. The myth of democratic resilience. Journal of Democracy, 36(3), 33-46.
Marie-Eve Desrosiers, Nic Cheeseman, Nicole Beardsworth, Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, and Mirza Hassan. 2025. Effectively supporting democratic resilience and resistance, IDRC.
Petra Alderman. 2023. Branding Authoritarian Nations: Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand. Routledge.
Petra Alderman and Kristin Anabel Eggeling. 2023. Vision Documents, Nation Branding and the Legitimation of Non-democratic Regimes, Geopolitics, 29 (1), pp.288-318.
Licia Cianetti and Seán Hanley. 2021. The end of the backsliding paradigm Journal of Democracy 32.1: 66-80.
Nic Cheeseman, Hilary Matfess, and Alitalali Amani. 2021. The Roots of Repression in Tanzania, Journal of Democracy, 32, 2: 77-89.
Edalina Rodrigues Sanches, Nic Cheeseman, Wouter Veenendaal and Jack Corbett. 2021. African Exceptions: Democratic Development in Small Island States. Journal of International Relations and Development.
Nic Cheeseman and Sishuswa Sishuwa. 2021. Democracy, African Studies Review.
Nic Cheeseman and Jonathan Fisher. 2020. Authoritarian Africa: Resistance, Repression and the Power of Ideas, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Licia Cianetti. 2019. Rethinking ‘Democratic Backsliding’ in Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge.
Accountability, policymaking, and corruption
We research whether governments are accountable to citizens, and the threats posed by state capture and corruption. In particular, members of CEDAR examine the effectiveness of different anti-corruption policies and the extent to which they encourage public participation while preventing apathy and resignation.
Publications associated with Accountability, policymaking, and corruption
Publications associated with Accountability, policymaking, and corruption
Nic Cheeseman and Caryn Peiffer, 2025. Opening the door to anti‐system leaders? Anti‐corruption campaigns and the global rise of populism. European Journal of Political Research, 64 (1), pp.134-155.
Natascha Neudorfer, Tim Haughton and Emilia Zankina, 2024.There Are Such People: The Role of Corruption in the 2021 Parliamentary Elections in Bulgaria, East European Politics, 40 (3), pp. 521-546
Luciano Da Ros and Manoel Gehrke. 2024. Convicting Politicians for Corruption: The Politics of Criminal Accountability. Government and Opposition, 59 (3), pp. 951-975.
Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi and Boluwatife Solomon Ajibola. 2023. What factors drive legislators’ response to crises? Evaluating actions and behaviour under a violent protest climate in Nigeria (PDS, 403KB). Taiwan Journal of Democracy, (19)2: 101-24.
Boluwatife Solomon Ajibola and Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi. 2022. The legislature as target and mediator of ensuing outcomes during social emergencies: revisiting Nigeria’s #EndSARS protest. The Theory and Practice of Legislation, 10(2), 117-146.
Tim Haughton, Marek Rybar and Kevin Deegan-Krause. 2022. Corruption, Campaigning and Novelty: The 2020 Parliamentary Elections and the Evolving Patterns of Party Politics in Slovakia, East European Politics and Societies, 36 (3) (), pp. 728-752
Nic Cheeseman and Caryn Peiffer. 2022. The Curse of Good Intentions: Why Anti-Corruption Messaging Can Encourage Corruption, American Political Science Review, 116(3): 1018-1095.
Nic Cheeseman, Jonathan Fisher, Idayat Hassan and Jamie Hitchin. 2020. Social Media Disruption: Nigeria’s WhatsApp Politics, Journal of Democracy, 31, 3: 145-59.
Nic Cheeseman, Gabrielle Lynch and Karuti Kanyinga. 2020. The political economy of Kenya: Community, clientelism, and class, in Nic Cheeseman, Gabrielle Lynch and Karuti Kanyinga (eds) The Handbook of Kenyan Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas. 2019. How to Rig An Election: Revised Edition, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Chaisty, Paul, Nic Cheeseman, and Timothy J. Power. 2018. Coalitional presidentialism in comparative perspective: Minority presidents in multiparty systems. Oxford University Press.
Representation and the politics of inclusion
We study how and why certain groups and sections of society are excluded or marginalised from decision-making. In particular, members of CEDAR explain how cities make institutions more inclusive, the role of civil society groups, and how to build trust in fragile democratic polities.
Publications associated with Representation and the politics of inclusion
Publications associated with Representation and the politics of inclusion
Afeez Kolawole Shittu and Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi. 2025. From exclusion to inclusion: Assessing disability accessibility and participation in Nigeria’s 2023 general elections. International Journal of Disability and Social Justice 5(3), 357-376.
Afeez Kolawole Shittu, Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi and Kazeem Aderemi Asiyanbia. 2024. Do disabled people also vote? Electoral frameworks and voting participation in Nigeria’s 2019 elections. Disability & Society, 39(4), 872-891.
Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi, Damilola Temitope Olorunshola, and Boluwatife Solomon Ajibola. 2023. Turning public engagement into standard practice: institutionalisation in the work of the South African Parliament. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 29(3), 406-424. .
Licia Cianetti. 2023. Here we go again! Repetition and the Politics of Inclusive Institutional Reform Journal of European Public Policy.
Mayowa Micheal Adeniji and Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi. 2023. Representative democracy, political disengagement, and young people’s perceptions of legislators in Nigeria. In O. Fagbadebo, & M. O. A. Alabi (eds.), The legislature in Nigeria’s presidential democracy of the Fourth Republic (pp. 93-112). Springer.
Nic Cheeseman. 2021. How Could We Design Democracy to Make it Work in the African Context?, in Fombad, Charles M., and Nico Steytler, eds. Democracy, Elections, and Constitutionalism in Africa. Oxford University Press.
Temitayo Isaac Odeyemi and Omomayowa Abati. 2021. When disconnected institutions serve connected publics: Subnational legislatures and digital public engagement in Nigeria. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 27(3), 357-380.
Licia Cianetti. 2020. Governing the multicultural city: Europe’s ‘great urban expectations’ facing austerity and resurgent nativism. Urban Studies.
Odeyemi, T. I. and Abioro, T. (2019). Digital Technologies, Online Engagement and Parliament-Citizen Relations in Nigeria and South Africa. In O. M. Fagbadebo and F. A. Ruffin (Eds.), Perspectives on the Legislature and the Prospects of Accountability in Nigeria and South Africa (pp. 217 – 232). Springer.
Licia Cianetti. 2019. The Quality of Divided Democracies: Minority Inclusion, Exclusion, and Representation in the New Europe. University of Michigan Press.
Licia Cianetti. 2018. Consolidated Technocratic and Ethnic Hollowness, but no Backsliding: Reassessing Europeanisation in Estonia and Latvia. East European Politics.
Policy Briefs
Our research is relevant to policymakers and practitioners interested in strengthening and defending democracy. The following briefs are available for download.
CEDAR Policy Brief #1: Diagnosing And Responding To The Challenges Facing Democracy (PDF, 442KB).