- E-maillise.rakner@uib.no
- Phone+47 55 58 90 75+4795705076
- Visitor AddressChristies gate 175007 Bergen
- Postal AddressPostboks 78025020 Bergen
Lise Rakner is Professor of political science at the Department of Government, University of Bergen. Her research interests cover the fields of democratization and autocratization, with particular emphasis on human rights, electoral politics, political parties and processes of democratic backsliding. Rakner's work also extents to political economy, with an emphasis on economic reforms, taxation, business associations, budget processes and aid effectiveness. She has conducted a number of governance assessment analyses for international agencies and donor governments. She holds an adjunct position at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen. She is the PI of the following research project Breaking BAD: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa funded by the Research Council of Norway (FRIHUMSAM), see https://www.democraticbacklash.com/. She is also PI of Autocratization Dynamics: Innovations in Research-Embedded Learning (INPART 2021-2025) and she heads the Zambia country study of Political determinants of sexual and reproductive health in Africa,funded by the RCN, Globvac). In her most recent research projects include Rights Activism Under Political Uncertainty, she studies NGO activism in Zimbabwe https://www.cmi.no/projects/2706-rights-activism-under-political-uncerta... and PI Norhed: epistemologies Decolonizing Epistemologies: Disciplines and the University in Relation to the Society and the World (NORHED II)
Courses
Bergen Summer research School (BSRS)-PhD Climate Governance (2015), Governance and Inequality (2021)
Sampol 315: Elections and representation (Master level)
Sampol 335. Elections and Representation in Democracies (Master)
Sampol 314: Elections in New democracies (Master level)
Sampol 338: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy
Sampol 100: Introduction to Comparative Politics
Sampol 105: State and nationbuilding
Sampol 219: Politics in the Developing World
Sampol 120: Scandinavian Politics (BA level)
Sampol 250: Writing the Bachelor thesis (BA level)
Publications
Books
Arriola, L., L. Rakner and N. van de Walle (2023): Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention Oxford University Press. Open access at: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/democratic-backsliding-in-africa...
Burnell, Peter, Vicky Randall and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2017. Politics in the Developing World. Oxford University Press, 5th edition.
Elgesem, D., E. Eide, S. Gloppen, and L. Rakner (red.), 2014. Klima, Medier og Politikk. Oslo: Abstrakt
Kiiza, Julius, Sabiti Makara and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2008. Electoral Democracy in Uganda: Understanding the Institutional Dynamics, Processes and Outcomes of the 2006 Multiparty Elections. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.
Gloppen, Siri and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2007: Globalization and Democratization: Challenges for Political Parties. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Rakner, Lise, 2003: Political and Economic Liberalisation in Zambia. Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute.
Articles (recent)
Hinfelaar, M. L. Rakner, S. Sishuwa & N. van de Walle . 2023: «Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections, Journal of East African Studies, Vol 16, No 4, pp. 558-575
https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2022.22356
Kristen Kao, Ellen Lust, Lise Rakner (2022): Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African elections,World Development,Volume 160,2022,106064,ISSN 0305-750X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106064.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22002546
Boniface Dulani, Lise Rakner, Lindsay Benstead, Vibeke Wang (2021): Do women face a different standard? The interplay of gender and corruption in the 2014 presidential elections in Malawi. Women's Studies International Forum, Volume 88, 102501 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2021.102501.
Rakner, Lise, 2021: “Don ́t touch my constitution! The role of pro-democracy movements in
African democratic trajectories”. Global Policy Volume12, IssueS5, July 2021, pp 95-105.
Arriola LR, Choi DD, Davis JM, Phillips ML, Rakner L., 2021: «Paying to party: Candidate resources
and party switching in new democracies». Party Politics. February 2021.
doi:10.1177/1354068821989563
Rakner, Lise and Siri Gloppen, 2020: “LGBT Rights in Africa”. Research Handbook on
Gender, Sexuality and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. Open access at: https://www.elgaronline.com/display/edcoll/9781788111140/9781788111140.0...
Rakner, Lise. 2019. “Democratic Rollback in Africa”. In Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.887
Muriaas, Ragnhild L., Vibeke Wang, Lindsay Benstead, Boniface Dulani, and Lise Rakner 2019. “Why the Gender of Traditional Authorities Matters: Intersectionality and Women’s Rights Advocacy in Malawi.” Comparative Political Studies. doi:10.1177/0010414018774369.
Lust, Ellen and Lise Rakner, 2018. “The Other Side of Taxation: Extraction and Social Institutions in the Developing World“, Annual Review of Political Science, 21:1
Ballen, C., Lee, D., Rakner, L., & Cotner, S. 2018. “Politics a “Chilly” Environment for Undergraduate Women in Norway”, PS: Political Science & Politics, 1-6. doi:10.1017/S1049096518000045
Helle, Svein Erik and Lise Rakner, 2017. “The impact of elections. The case of Uganda”, in Gerschewski, Johannes and Christoph Stefes (eds.). Crisis in Autocratic Regimes, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, pp. 111-134.
Rakner, Lise, 2017. “Tax bargains in unlikely places: The politics of Zambian mining taxes”. The Extractive Industries and Society (4), pp. 525-538.
Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise, Lise Rakner, and Ingvild Skage, 2016. “Political capital of ruling parties after regime change: Contrasting successful insurgencies to peaceful pro-democracy movements. Civil Wars, Vol. 18(2) pp. 175-191.
- (2024). Policymakers’ Abortion Preferences: Understanding the Intersection of Gender and Wealth. Comparative Political Studies.
- (2024). Lobbying in tax policy making: The case of VAT-reform in Tanzania. 21 pages.
- (2022). Zimbabwe: Contested Autocratization. 30 pages.
- (2022). Zambia: Backsliding in a Presidential Regime. 30 pages.
- (2022). Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African elections. World Development.
- (2022). Verdens verste leder anno 2021.
- (2022). Ufahumu-Africa, season 6, episoed 145: Rachel Riedl in A conversation with Leo Arriola, Lise Rakner and Nic van de Walle on democratic backsliding.
- (2022). Taxing Africa.
- (2022). Political Participation and Regime Responses. 21 pages.
- (2022). Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections. Journal of Eastern African Studies. 558-575.
- (2022). Legal Strategies in Democratic Backsliding and Resistance in Africa.
- (2022). Legal Strategies in Democratic Backsliding and Resistance in Africa.
- (2022). Legal Strategies in Democratic Backsliding and Resistance in Africa.
- (2022). International Strategies: Sovereignty Claims and Selective Compliance. 34 pages.
- (2022). In Pursuit of Development, Season 3, episode 20. Lise Rakner in conversation with Dan Banik on democratic backsliding in Africa. .
- (2022). Human Rights Activism in Challenging Circumstances.
- (2022). Divine Intervention: The democratic ethics of pentecostalism in Zambia.
- (2022). Democratic backsliding. Analytical perspectives. Roundtable .
- (2022). Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, contention and resillience.
- (2022). Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Contention and Recillience.
- (2022). "The politicization of LGBT rights in Africa".
- (2022). "Hvilket lands ledere er de aller verste" Samtale mellom Lise Rakner og Carl Henrik Knutsen.
- (2022). "Hatespeech"- en trussel for ytringsfriheten?
- (2021). Zambia 2011-2021: Presidentialism, Legal Autocratisation and Democratic Backsliding Institute for Democracy Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa at the University of CapeTown. .
- (2021). Utfordringer for demokratiet.
- (2021). Same Rules, Higher Costs: Women’s Pathways to Candidacy in Zambia. 22 pages.
- (2021). Paying to party: Candidate resources and party switching in new democracies . Party Politics. 1-14.
- (2021). Noen blir absurd rike. Agenda Magasin.
- (2021). Lobbying and the shaping of tax policies in Tanzania. Working Paper - Chr. Michelsen Institute. 20 pages.
- (2021). Elite Responses to Policy Reforms in Autocratic Settings. Pre-Analysis Plan. .
- (2021). Don’t Touch My Constitution! Civil Society Resistance to Democratic Backsliding in Africa´s Pluralist Regimes. Global Policy.
- (2021). Do women face a different standard? The interplay of gender and corruption in the 2014 presidential elections in Malawi,. Women's Studies: International Forum.
- (2021). Divine Intervention: The Influence of Pentecostal Sermons on Democratic Values Evidence from Zambia.
- (2021). Democratic Backsliding in Poland and Hungary.
- (2021). Comparing legal activism in Zimbabwe and Zambia. CMI Working Paper. 30 pages.
- (2021). Carl Henrik Knutsen: Demokrati og Diktatur. Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift.
- (2021). Autocratization dynamics in Africa.
- (2020). Time for global health diplomacy. The Lancet. 1691-1692.
- (2020). Partisanship, Gender, and the Structure of Politician Networks in Zambia .
- (2020). Lise Rakner and Nic van de Walle: Opposition parties in non-institutionalized party systems: Zambia Elections Research Network: ZERN workshop and analyses of 2021 Zambian elections.
- (2020). LGBT Rights in Africa. 17 pages.
- (2020). Don´t touch my constitution! The role of pro-democracy movements in African democratic trajectories.
- (2020). Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention .
- (2020). Autocratization and the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic .
- (2019). Working paper: Women’s Household Bargaining Power and Abortion Policy Preferences: Evidence from Zambian Politicians.
- (2019). The perfect enemy: From migrants to sexual minorities.
- (2019). The Business of Politics. Campaign Costs and Party Switching in Africa.
- (2019). Roundtable: Researching Backlash against Democracy.
- (2019). Political corruption and corruption as a political strategy.
- (2019). Kvinner som protesterer. Agenda Magasin.
- (2019). Kvinner som gjør oppgjør. Agenda Magasin.
- (2019). Den gode fienden: Fra flytninger til seksuelle minoriteter. Agenda Magasin.
- (2019). Democratic Rollback in Africa.
- (2019). Breakfast for Democracy: Military coups of today .
- (2019). Demokrati i tilbakegang i Afrika .
- (2018). Why the Gender of Traditional Authorities Matters: Intersectionality and Women’s Rights Advocacy in Malawi. Comparative Political Studies. 1-44.
- (2018). Why campaigns to stop child marriage can backfire. The Washington Post.
- (2018). WORLD AFFAIRS: Threats to Democracy in Africa. .
- (2018). Understanding Democratic Backsliding in Africa.
- (2018). Traditional Authority, Gender and Political Engagement in Malawi.
- (2018). The other side of taxation: extraction and social institutions in the developing world. Annual review of political science (Palo Alto, Calif. Print). 277-294.
- (2018). The business of politics: Party defection and candidate selection in Zambia.
- (2018). The International Dimension of Backlash Against Democracy.
- (2018). Tax bargains in poorly regulated countries: Lobbying and the shaping of tax policies in Tanzania.
- (2018). Politics a “Chilly” Environment for Undergraduate Women in Norway. PS: Political Science and Politics. 653-658.
- (2018). Don´t touch my constitution. Civil society resistance and political turnovers in African pluralist regimes.
- (2018). Diktatorens lærebok: Kapittelet om Tanzania. . Bistandsaktuelt.
- (2018). Den demokratiske snarveien. Agenda Magasin.
- (2018). Breaking Bad: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa. CMI Insight.
- (2018). Breakfast for Democracy: Plunging into a new civil War? Political crisis in Burundi.
- (2017). “Understanding Backlash against democracy in Africa”.
- (2017). “Slaget om menneskerettighetene. Om demokratiets tilbakegang”.
- (2017). “Politician defection in Zambia”,.
- (2017). demokrati i forfall. Agenda Magasin.
- (2017). Vafler for demokratiet. Agenda Magasin.
- (2017). Understanding the Uneven Playing Field. The Multifaceted Role of Unfair Electoral Competition in a Non-Democratic Regime.
- (2017). Understanding Backlash against democracy in Africa.
- (2017). The rise and fall of the mining royalty regime in Zambia. 120-124.
- (2017). The politization of LGBT and abortion rights in Zambia: Preliminary findings from survey and qualitative interviews.
- (2017). The Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI) in Malawi: Selected Findings on Gender. .
- (2017). The Impact of Elections: The Case of Uganda. 24 pages.
- (2017). Tax bargains in unlikely places: The politics of Zambian mining taxes. The Extractive Industries and Society. 525-538.
- (2017). Political determinants of sexual & reproductive health (Globvac project).
- (2017). LGBT rights in Zambia: Analyzing politicization and contentious episodes.
- (2017). Institutional Perspectives. 44-57. In:
- (2017). Politics in the Developing World, 5th Edition. Oxford University Press.
- (2017). Governance. 226-242. In:
- (2017). Politics in the Developing World, 5th Edition. Oxford University Press.
- (2017). Democratization and Regime Change. 211-225. In:
- (2017). Politics in the Developing World, 5th Edition. Oxford University Press.
- (2017). Breaking BAD: Understanding the Backlash Against Democracy in Africa.
- (2017). Breaking BAD: Understanding backlash Against Democracy in Africa.
- (2017). Africa’s legalized politics of homosexuality: dynamics & effects of criminalization.
- (2016). Using traditional leaders to end child marriage: Evidence from a survey experiment in Malawi.
- (2016). Using traditional leaders to end child marriage: Evidence from a survey experiment in Malawi.
- (2016). The urban poor as citizens and clients. Enacting political agency through political parties and social movements in Kenya and Zambia.
- (2016). The rise and fall of the mining royalty regime in Zambia. CMI Brief. 4 pages.
- (2016). Political capital of ruling parties after regime change: contrasting successful insurgencies to peaceful pro-democracy movements. Civil Wars. 175-191.
- (2016). Lessons from Zambia … for a more sustainable mining tax regime. African Development Bank "AnnualMeetings Daily".
- (2016). Lessons from Zambia – From a profit-based tax system, to a revenue-based tax system. African Development Bank "AnnualMeetings Daily".
- (2016). Lessons from Zambia - Recommendations for a more sustainable mining tax regime. African Development Bank "AnnualMeetings Daily".
- (2015). “Don’t touch my constitution! Civil society resistance and political turnovers in Africa´s pluralist regimes” (with I. Skage).
- (2015). Shaping the tax agenda: Public engagement, lobbying and tax reform in Tanzania. CMI Brief. 4 pages.
- (2015). Reconceptualizing African Party Systems.
- (2015). Norske klimaparadokser. Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift. 246-255.
- (2015). Explaining Variation in Government Parties’ Willingness to Build Party Organization in Africa.
- (2014). The role of institutions in capital flight, lobbyism and tax evasion.
- (2014). Stortingsklima. Klima som valgkamptema og norske politikeres syn på klimautfordringene. 21 pages.
- (2014). Norske paradokser. 15 pages.
- (2014). Memorandum:Overview of research findings regarding aid in support of democratization and human rights observance. .
- (2014). Klimabistand: god bistandspolitikk? 19 pages.
- (2014). Judging the price of life: cons considerations in right-to-health litigation. 25 pages.
- (2014). Institutional Perspectives. 15 pages.
- (2014). Grabbing’ an election: Abuse of state resources in the 2011 elections in Uganda. 11 pages.
- (2014). Democracy. 15 pages.
- (2013). ”Prioritization of healthcare: Comparative perspectives”.
- (2013). “Competition and participation, but no democracy: The politics of elections in Africa´s feckless regimes”. Statsvetenskaplig Tidsskrift. 365-384.
- (2013). Foreign Aid and Democratic Consolidation in Zambia.
- (2013). Electoral mobilization in Uganda and Zambia for the 2011 elections: The interplay between opposition weakness, incumbent strength and the urban/rural electoral divide.
- (2012). WP/016 Foreign Aid and Democratic Consolidation in Zambia. UNU-WIDER Research Papers.
- (2012). The interplay between poverty and electoral authoritarianism: Poverty and regime stability in Uganda and Zambia.
- (2012). The interplay between poverty and electoral authoritarianism: Poverty and political mobilization in Zambia and Uganda. .
- (2012). Taxation, elections and populism: The salience of taxation Zambian election campaigns 2001-2011.
- (2012). I pose og sekk? Klima i norsk utviklingspolitikk etter 2005. 25 pages.
- (2012). Foreign aid, democracy promotion and democratic progress. 10 pages.
- (2012). Elections in hybrid regimes: Assessing the Formal and Informal Underpinnings of Electoral Contests in Africa, Post-Communist Eurasia and the Middle East.
- (2011). Institutionalizing the pro-democracy movements: the case of Zambia's Movement for Multiparty Democracy. Democratization. 1106-1124.
- (2011). Institutional Perspectives. 18 pages.
- (2011). In search of the impact of international support for political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared. 25 pages.
- (2011). Governance and Aid Conditionality in a Globalizing World. 20 pages.
- (2011). Assessing the impact of health rights litigation : a comparative analysis of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, India and South Africa. 31 pages.
- (2010). The Management of the 2009 Electoral Process. The Role of the Malawi Electoral Commission. 21 pages.
- (2010). In search of the impact of international support for political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared. Democratization. 1250-1274.
- (2009). When and why do judges consider the costs of health right litigation?
- (2009). Valgets politikk: Betydningen av legale og administrative virkemidler for å beholde makten i Malawi og Uganda. Politica - Tidsskrift for politisk videnskab. 268-282.
- (2009). Valgets politikk: Betydningen av administrative og legale virkemidler for å beholde makten i Malawi og Uganda. Politica - Tidsskrift for politisk videnskab. 268-282.
- (2009). Turnaround: The national resistance movement and the reintroduction of a multiparty system in Uganda. International Political Science Review. 185-204.
- (2009). The impact of international party support to political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared.
- (2009). The administration of the 2009 elections: The role of the Malawi Electoral Commission.
- (2009). Opposition weakness in Africa. Journal of Democracy. 108-121.
- (2009). Opposition Parties and Incumbent Presidents: The New Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Africa. 24 pages.
- (2009). How do we measure the impact of health right litigation?
- (2009). "An aid exit strategy for Zambia".
- (2008). “Opposition parties and incumbent presidents. The New Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Sub Saharan Africa” (with Nic van de Walle)”.
- (2007). Opposition parties in sub-saharan Africa. 20 pages.
- (2007). Introduction: Coming to grips with the current predicaments of political parties. 10 pages.
- (2007). Fissions and fusions, foes and friends - Party system restructuring in Malawi in the 2004 general elections. Comparative Political Studies. 1112-1137.
- (2005). The accountability function of supreme audit institutions in Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania. .
- (2005). Stuck in Transition: Electoral Processes in Zambia 1991-2001. Democratization. 85-105.
- (2005). Stuck in Transition: Electoral Processes in Zambia 1991-2001. Democratization. 85-105.
- (2005). Fissions and fusions, friends and foes: Party system restructuring in Malawi.
- (2005). Figthing Poverty in Africa: are PRSPs making a difference. The Journal of Modern African Studies. 492-493.
- (2003). The PRSP process in Zambia. .
- (2003). Taxation and tax reforms in developing countries: Illustrations from sub-Saharan Africa. CMI Working Paper. 35 pages.
More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)
2022-2025 Rights Activism under Political Uncertainty (RightAct) (Research Council of Norway, Scientific Renewal)
2021-2025 Autocratization Dynamics: Innovations in Research-Embedded Learning (PI)
2017- 2021 Research Council of Norway (FRIHUMSAM): Breaking BAD: Explaining Backlash Against Democracy (PI).
2016-2020: Research Council of Norway (GLOBVAC): Political determinants of sexual and reproductive health in Africa (RNC, lead Researcher Zambia country study
2016-2020: Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council): Social Institutions and Governance: Lessons from Sub-Sahara Africa (Gothenburg University, co PI with Ellen Lust
- Democratization
- Political parties
- Electoral processes
- Human rights, rights litigation
- Development, development aid
- Africa (Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Southern Africa)
- Global Governance
