International Political Economy and The Politics of Democracy Promotion

Gabu, Guinea-Bissau - April 13, 2014: Polling station, ballot boxes and international election observer in rural Guinea-Bissau during general elections in 2014.A key area of research at IDD is the international political economy of development. 

Our staff and students look at a range of questions focusing on the international influences on the politics of developing countries. This includes looking at how the structure of political and economic relations between countries, such as trade and finance, impacts development outcomes. It also includes a focus on the effects of global governance institutions on domestic politics in developing countries. 

Another project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, has examined migrant decision-making processes and tested the effects of immigration policy change on migration flows. One of the key research programmes that we host in this regard is the Political Economy of Democracy Promotion project, in which IDD collaborates with the Westminster Foundation of Democracy, the premier democracy promotion organization of the United Kingdom, to understand when and how international efforts to strengthen democracy are successful. Using a range of methodological tools, our research not only shapes the academic debate but also enables key policy makers to work more effectively and efficiently.

Watch Nic Cheeseman explain: How do regimes continue to rig elections and get away with it?

Key Staff

Research Projects

Development Engagement Lab, David Hudson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Political Economy of Power-Sharing in Post-Conflict Situations Martin Ottmann

The Political Economy of Democracy Promotion Nic Cheeseman and Susan Dodsworth

Migrant Networks, Decisions, and Immigration Policy, Shane Johnson, David Hudson, Cassilde Schwartz and Miranda Simon, Leverhulme Trust

Aid Attitudes Tracker, David Hudson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Conservative Party and volunteering aboard Danielle Beswick

Publications

Simon, M., Schwartz, C., Hudson, D. and Johnson, S.D. (2018). A data-driven computational model on the effects of immigration policies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(34): E7914-E7923

Cheeseman, N. (2017) A valid electoral exercise”? Uganda's 1980 Elections and the Observers’ Dilemma  Comparative Studies in Society and History [with Gabrielle Lynch and Justin Willis]

Cheeseman, N. (2016) Accommodation works better for reducing conflict Ethnopolitics, 15, 5: 538-545

Cooley, L. and Mujanović, J. (2014) Changing the rules of the game: Comparing FIFA/UEFA and EU attempts to promote reform of power-sharing institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Global Society 29(1): 42-63

Dasandi, N. and Erez, L. (2017), The Donor’s Dilemma: International Aid and Human Rights Violations, British Journal of Political Science

Dasandi, N. and Esteve, M. (2017) The Politics-Bureaucracy Interface in Developing Countries’, Public Administration and Development, 37(4): 231-245 

Dasandi, N., Hudson, D. and Pegram, T. (2015) “Governance and Institutions” In: Waage, J., and Yap, C. (eds.) Thinking Beyond Sectors for Sustainable Development. London: Ubiquity Press, pp. 63-76

Dodsworth, Susan, and Nic Cheeseman (2017)   Research note the potential and pitfalls of collaborating with development organizations and policy makers in Africa African Affairs 1: 16

Marquette, H. and Cooley, L. (2015) Corruption and post-conflict reconstruction, in Jackson, P. (ed.) Handbook of International Security and Development, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar: 349-69

Ottmann, M. and Vüllers, J. (2019) Government-Rebel Relations in the Wake of Power-Sharing Peace Agreements. in: C. Hartzell and A. Mehler (eds.), Power-Sharing and Power Relations After Civil War, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner

Waage, J., Yap, C., Bell, S., Levy, C., Mace, G., Pegram, T., Unterhalter, E., Dasandi, N., Hudson, D., Kock, R., Mayhew, S., Marx, C., & Poole, N. (2015). Governing the UN Sustainable Development Goals: interactions, infrastructures, and institutions. The Lancet Global Health, 3(5): 251-252