This dissertation adds to and broadens the literature on forced migration by explaining how everyday politics influence new social dynamics in cities of arrival. Most of the existing research focuses on the Western context ...

Political competition is generally regarded as one of the hallmarks of a well-functioning democracy. Competitive elections hold politicians to account, thereby increasing government performance to the benefit of citizens. ...

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) are often referred to in the literature as the “gatekeepers” of the international credit market. Their assessments may determine a government’s ability to finance its budget since good credit ...

Research on political participation finds that poor citizens engage less in politics than wealthy citizens. Yet, recent survey evidence also suggests that there is crucial variation in the poor’s level of engagement within ...

Millions of people have migrated to Europe during the last decades. As a result, the issue of immigrant integration in host societies has received increased attention among scholars and policymakers. The question of how ...

In recent decades, women’s ability to engage in politics and civil society has risen dramatically across the globe. What has the increase in the number of women in politics, their “descriptive representation”, meant in ...

When voters form their political opinions and decide whom to vote for, they are confronted with at least two types of uncertainty. First, voters cannot be sure what reforms a political party will pursue once in office. ...

Political parties communicate their plans to voters via promises made during election campaigns. While it has been found that governments generally take these promises they make seriously, it has also been established ...

Political equality is one of the cornerstones of a well-functioning democracy. Yet, very few democracies live up to this ideal. In this dissertation, I show that a central part of human behavior, mating, can help us explain ...

Do voters in developing democracies reward incumbents for public goods provision? One of the basic assumptions of democratic theory is that voters use elections to punish and reward incumbents for their performance in ...