Governance and Local Development - GLD

REMINDER! Do you want to experience being part of an international research team that values transparent research, rigorous methods, and collaboration among scholars, policymakers, and civil societies? Apply for an internship at GLD! Besides learning new skills, you'll gain valuable work experience from a research environment and enhance your employability by getting the chance to put your academic knowledge into practice. We are looking for highly motivated, flexible, and self-driven people who want to work in a fast-paced research environment. We are currently offering two data science internships for the fall semester.

Read more and apply here: https://bit.ly/4sCWHj8
Deadline: APRIL 12

GLD and the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) are pleased to announce a joint, two-year Postdoctoral Researcher in Cross-National Survey Methodology in Political Science position is now open at the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg.

The position will be split between the institutes and will work with the V-Dem thematic surveys and Local Governance Process Indicators survey. The position will focus on designing and implementing studies to evaluate mode effects in digital survey administration, contribute to methodological development in questionnaire design, identify under-performing survey items, assess measurement validity and cross-national comparability, and more.

Read more and apply here: https://bit.ly/47qjh6d
Deadline: APRIL 15

🎙️ NEW FELLOW INTERVIEW 🎙️

Meet Lauren Honig, Associate Professor at Boston College
Lauren’s research focuses on the research and teaching focus on the political economy of development and comparative politics in African countries. She focuses on the politics of property rights, the roles of informal and customary institutions, and state-citizen linkages. Her current research projects examine land rights and plural systems of authority.

Click here to learn more about her work on customary institutions and land governance, extensive fieldwork and travel in Africa, and more: bit.ly/GLDLH26

Policy Brief No. 30: Rethinking Place-Based Development in Left-Behind Regions

This month’s policy brief centers around why spatially targeted policies in Mexico fall short and how to improve. Persistent regional inequality in Mexico stems from long-term structural and policy dynamics—unequal integration into national and global markets and selective state investment—rather than simply local shortcomings in lagging regions. While place-based strategies have become a prominent policy response, their mixed results highlight a central policy question: under what institutional and governance conditions can they generate sustained and equitable regional transformation?

This brief was written by Alejandra Trejo Nieto and based on her article, “Reconsidering Development in Left-Behind Places and a Critical Discussion of Place-Based Strategies,” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography

Read the Policy Brief here: https://bit.ly/GLDPB30

Our Work-in-Progress Seminar Series brings together scholars to share cutting-edge research and foster intellectual exchange. Each session offers a unique opportunity to engage with emerging scholarship, provide feedback, and connect with colleagues working on timely questions in political science and related fields. Join us in person in Gothenburg or online throughout the spring!

📅 Next Session: March 25th, 2026, 1600 CET.
NB! Daylight Savings Time in Europe does not start until March 29

We're pleased to welcome Benjamin Yoel from Michigan State University presenting: International Pressure and Public Support for Opposition to Democratic Backsliding

Join us in Gothenburg or via Zoom. Learn more and register: bit.ly/GLDWIP26

🎙️ New Governance Uncovered Podcast Episode! 🎙️

This episode features an interview with Tufts University Professor Pearl Robinson, conducted by Anna Mwaba, Assistant Professor of Government at Smith College, and Tumi Makgetla, Senior Lecturer in Political Studies at the University of Cape Town.

Professor Pearl Robinson is a trailblazing scholar of African politics, former president of the African Studies Association, and a lifelong advocate for amplifying voices of African descent in the academy. Her career spans decades of fieldwork, institution-building, and engaged the African Continent and diaspora. In this episode, the first of a two-part conversation, they discuss the formative experiences that drew Professor Robinson to political science, including a transformative year in Bordeaux and two years in the Peace Corps in rural Niger, her influential mentors at Columbia, and her hard-won wisdom about navigating the profession.

You can find a shortened version of the interview in the Spring 2026 APSA Comparative Politics Newsletter.

Listen to the podcast here: https://on.soundcloud.com/RFeNvDEXZli6bpKp3T

📬GLD March 2026 Newsletter

📅 Applications Open! Joint GLD-V-Dem Postdoctoral Researcher Position — Applications Close April 1.

📅 Applications Open! GLD Fall Internships — Applications Close April 12.

🎤New Governance Uncovered podcast episode with Pearl Robinson on Embracing the Unexpected

📝New Policy Brief by Alejandra Trejo Nieto on retaining place-based development in left-behind regions

🎤 March Work-in-Progress Speakers: Sanho Chung on clientelism in Taiwan (March 11) & Benjamin Yoel on democratic backsliding (March 25)

👋 Farewell to our Cornell-Based Communications Officer, Therese Dang

💬 New GLD Associate Interviews with Lauren Honig
🔗 Read More @ bit.ly/GLDNL326

Do you want to experience being part of an international research team that values transparent research, rigorous methods, and collaboration among scholars, policymakers, and civil societies? Apply for an internship at GLD! Besides learning new skills, you'll gain valuable work experience from a research environment and enhance your employability by getting the chance to put your academic knowledge into practice. We are looking for highly motivated, flexible, and self-driven people who want to work in a fast-paced research environment. We are currently offering two data science internships for the fall semester.

Read more and apply here: https://bit.ly/4sCWHj8

GLD and the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) are pleased to announce a joint, two-year Postdoctoral Researcher in Cross-National Survey Methodology in Political Science position is now open at the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg.

The position will be split between the institutes and will work with the V-Dem thematic surveys and Local Governance Process Indicators survey. The position will focus on designing and implementing studies to evaluate mode effects in digital survey administration, contribute to methodological development in questionnaire design, identify underperforming survey items, assess measurement validity and cross-national comparability, and more.

Applications close April 1. Read more and apply here: https://bit.ly/47qjh6d

GLD's Work-in-Progress seminar series brings together scholars to share cutting-edge research and foster intellectual exchange. Each session offers a unique opportunity to engage with emerging scholarship, provide feedback, and connect with colleagues working on timely questions in political science and related fields. Join us in person in Gothenburg or online throughout the spring!

📅 Next Session: March 11th, 2026, 1600 CET. NB! Daylight Savings Time in Europe does not start until March 29

We're pleased to welcome Sanho Chung from National Taiwan Normal University presenting: More Local, More Clientelistic? How Clientelism Tolerance Differs by Election Levels in Taiwan

Join us in Gothenburg or via Zoom. Learn more and register: bit.ly/GLDWIP26

🎙️ NEW ASSOCIATE INTERVIEW 🎙️

Meet Adam Harris, Associate Professor at University College London
Adam's research examines ethnic and identity politics across Africa and beyond, challenging the assumption that voters always support candidates from their own ethnic group. His work reveals that African voters are far more informed than Western scholars often give them credit for, a bias rooted in colonial legacies and implicit assumptions.

Click here to learn more about his research on identity politics, and his recent work on reducing homophobia in difficult contexts: bit.ly/4qKFRgZ

GLD Work-in-Progress Seminar Series

Our Work-in-Progress seminar series brings together scholars to share cutting-edge research and foster intellectual exchange. Each session offers a unique opportunity to engage with emerging scholarship, provide feedback, and connect with colleagues working on timely questions in political science and related fields. Join us in person in Gothenburg or online throughout the spring!

📅 Next Session: February 25 at 1600 CET/CEST
We're pleased to welcome Brian Palmer-Rubin from the University of Southern California presenting: “Social Capital and Smallholder Adaptation to Export Agriculture in Mexico."

Join us in Gothenburg or via Zoom. Learn more and register:

GLD 2026 Spring Work-in-Progress Series - February 25 GLD would like to welcome you to our Spring 2025 Work-in-Progress Series. This series offers scholars from around the world an opportunity to present and receive feedback on their works in progress, including manuscripts, PAPs, conference papers, articles, etc. This series is virtual and open to any...