“All the analysis of infinite reality which the finite human mind can conduct rests on the tacit assumption that only a finite portion of this reality constitutes the object of scientific investigation, and that only it is ‘important’ in the sense of being ‘worthy of being known.’” — Max Weber

“… it is not our job to make the complicated simplistic, but instead to render complex phenomena comprehensible.” — Sidney Verba

RESEARCH AGENDA

I have an interdisciplinary research agenda organized around three empirical research clusters: democracy, institutions, and political development; colonialism and development, and Research methods. My research interests lie in the intersection of political science, sociology, and comparative history, pursuing big research questions to gain insight into macro-processes and their outcomes using cross-disciplinary insights and methods.

Democracy, Institutions, and Political Development

  1. The Legacies of Liberation: Critical Junctures and Political Development in Post-Settler Colonial Southern Africa (book project).
  2. “Critical Junctures and Political Development: The Legacies of Liberation in Southern Africa,” review & resubmit.
  3. “Caught in a Bind? The ANC’s Long Decline and South Africa’s Democracy in an Era of Post-Majoritarian Politics,” Under review.
  4. “Critical Junctures, Independence Movements, and Democracy in Africa: A Comparative-Historical Perspective,” working paper.
  5. “Informal Institutions, Institutional Change, and Comparative Politics in Africa: A Research Agenda,” working paper.
  6. “Historical Institutionalism and African Politics: Review Essay,” work in progress.
  7. “Third Wave Democratization in Africa: The Rise of Illiberal Democracy in Comparative Perspective,” CEU Political Science Journal, 10 (2016): 51-83.
  8. “From SAPs to PRSPs: The Annals of Neoliberal Ideological Dogmatism in Governance & Development Policy,” Critique (Fall 2015): 67-104.
  9. “Eritrea’s Foreign Policy Explained in Light of the ‘Democratic Peace’ Proposition,” International Journal of Peace & Development Studies, 4(2013): 76-89.

Colonialism & Postcolonial Development

  1. “Late Colonialism and Postcolonial Development in Africa: A Comparative-Historical Analysis of Former Italian Africa,” International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 66, 2 (2024): 286-319 https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152241269033.
  2. “The Political Economy of Settler States in Africa,” with Alex Dyzenhaus, in preparation for submission.
  3. “The Colonial Origins of Political (Under-)Development: Italian Africa in Comparative Perspective,” working paper. 
  4. “Colonial ‘Indirect Rule’ and Long-Run Development in Africa: Concept Precision for Valid Causal Inference,” work in progress.
  5. “Colonialism, Marginality, and Path Dependence in Cabo Delgado,” Clio Newsletter of Politics & History (APSA),30 (2), 2021.

Research Methods

  1. “Strategies of Abductive Analysis in Qualitative Research,” in preparation for submission.
  2. “Abductive Analysis in Qualitative and Multi-Method Political Science,” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, 22, 2 (Fall 2024): 58-63.
  3. Jean Clipperton, E. Ochoa, Z. Ruan, J. Lee, P. Manzi, J. Zimmerman, I. Kwon, S. Gubitz, S. Noor, and M. Weylandt. Empirical methods in political science: An introduction (Evanston: Northwestern University, 2022).
  4. “The Comparative Method and Comparative-Historical Sociology: A Review Essay,” work in progress.
  5. “Reactive Sequences and Path-Dependence in Historical Sociology,” work in progress.
  6. “New Insights and Strategies in Small-N Comparison,” work in progress.
  7. “Historical Experiments in Social Science Explanation,” work in progress.
BOOK CHAPTERS
  • “Community Organizing to End Displacement in Eritrea: A Narrative of Community and Institutional Resilience,” with A. Almedom and A. Nayr, in Wade Rathke, ed., Global Grassroots: An Organizing Perspective (New Orleans: Social Policy Press, 2011): 81-91.
BOOK REVIEW
  • “Theorizing in Comparative Politics: Democratization in Africa by Goran Hyden,” Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, forthcoming.
  • “Democracy in Africa: Successes, Failures, and the Struggle for Political Reform by Nic Cheeseman,” The Journal of Politics, 80 (2018): 19-20.
  • “Democratic Trajectories in Africa: Unravelling the Impact of Foreign Aid by D. Resnick and N. van de Walle,” African Affairs, 114 (2015): 663-665.
  • “The African Garrison State: Human Rights and Political Development in Eritrea, by K. Tronvoll & D. R. Mekonnen, & Eritrea at a Crossroads: A Narrative of Triumph, Betrayal and Hope, by A. W. Giorgis,” Africa Spectrum, 1 (2015): 99-103.
  • “The African Garrison State: Human Rights and Political Development in Eritrea, by K. Tronvoll & D. R. Mekonnen,” African Studies Quarterly, 15 (2014): 136-138.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
  • “Free Access to Information and a Vibrant Civil Society as Cornerstones for Sustainable Development” (with Frida Andersson). Report for the EU Commission, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, 2016.
PUBLIC WRITING (SELECT)
  • “South Africa’s 2024 Elections: Political Change and Democratic Uncertainty,” Democracy in Africa, May 29, 2025.
  • “Eritrea: Why Change Abroad Doesn’t Mean Change at Home,” African Arguments, Sep. 12, 2018.
  • “Exile and Exodus from Eritrea: A Personal Testimony and Reflections on Political Repression,” Awate, August 29, 2014.
  • “How Can Lasting Peace Between Eritrea and Ethiopia be Achieved?” Think Africa Press, April 9, 2013.

Find my work in Google Scholar or ResearchGate.