Dr Adam Harris

Associate Professor in Development Politics
Room: 1.04, 36-38 Gordon Sq.
Tel: 020 7612 6927 (x06927)
Email: adam.s.harris@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter

Biography

I am an Associate Professor (starting October 2020) in Development Politics. Prior to joining UCL, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Governance and Local Development (GLD) program at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2015-2017); I am currently a member of the GLD Steering Committee. I received my PhD in Political Science from the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University (NYU; 2015). I study ethnic, race, development, and African politics with a focus on political participation using experimental and survey methods.

Research

Dr. Harris’ research investigates and seeking to challenge the dominant narratives around ethnic voting by investigating how those of mixed ethnic heritage vote, why some members of a group do not toe the group line, and challenging the assumptions that underline our theories of ethnic voting. He also investigate aid effectiveness and the resource curse. He have conducted research on South Africa, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, and Kenya as well as cross-national analysis. His work has been published in Comparative Political Studies, World Development, International Organization, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Development Policy Review, and Politikon.

Publications

2022. "Mutual Dependence and Expectations of Cooperation" With Lauren Honig. Journal of Politics.
2022. "Varieties of connections, varieties of corruption: Evidence from bureaucrats in five countries" With Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, Kim Sass Mikkelsen, Christian Schuster, Brigitte Seim, and Rachel Sigman. Governance, 1– 20.
2022. "Activating the “Big Man”: Social Status, Patronage Networks, and Pro-Social Behavior in African Bureaucracies" With Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, Kim Sass Mikkelsen, and Christian Schuster. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.
2021. "Elections in the time of covid-19: the triple crises around Malawi’s 2020 presidential elections" With Boniface Dulani, Ellen Lust, Karen Ferree, Kristen Kao, Cecilia Ahsan Jansson and Erica Ann Metheney. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 31:sup1, 56-68.
2022. "Do Bureaucrats Contribute to the Resource Curse? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in New Oil States" With Rachel Sigman, Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, Kim Sass Mikkelsen and Christian Schuster. The Journal of Development Studies, 58:4, 639-655.
2021. "Stigma, Trust, and procedural integrity: Covid-19 testing in Malawi" With Karen E. Ferree, Boniface Dulani, Kristen Kao, Ellen Lust, and Erica Metheney. World Dev.
2020. "The ABCs of Covid-19 prevention in Malawi: Authority, benefits, and costs of compliance' With Kristen Kao, Ellen Lust, Boniface Dulani, Karen E Ferree, and Erica Metheney. World Dev.
2020. "Toward Performance-based Politics: Swing Voters in South Africa’s 2016 Local Elections" South African Journal of Political Studies 47(2).
2020. Electoral Preferences Among Multiethnic Voters in Africa” With Boniface Dulani, Jeremy Horowitz, and Happy Kayuni. Comparative Political Studies, 54 (22).
2020 “Oiling the Bureaucracy? Political Spending, Bureaucrats and the Resource Curse.”With Rachel Sigman, Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling, Christian Schuster, and Kim Mikkelson.World Development127(March): 104745.
2020 “At the Borders of Identity: Identity Construction and Racial Bloc Voting.” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 5(2): 326-355.
2019. "Information, accountability and perceptions of public sector programme success: A conjoint experiment among bureaucrats in Africa" With Brigitte Seim and Rachel Sigman. Developmental Policy Review 38(5).
2019 “Taking to the Streets: Protest as an Expression of Political Preference in Africa.”With Erin Hern. Comparative Political Studies 52(8): 1169-1199.
2017 “Who Controls Foreign Aid? Elite versus Public Perceptions of Donor Influencein Aid-Dependent Uganda.” With Michael G. Findley, Helen V. Milner, and Daniel L.Nielson.International Organization71 (Fall): 633-663.

Teaching

I teach International Development and Public Policy, Political Economy of Development, and Identity Politics. I have supervised students on projects focused on political behaviour, African politics, ethnic and racial politics, aid effectiveness, Chinese aid and involvement in Africa, and local governance and development.