Research

I have a dynamic research agenda. My goal is to understand the processes that shape African politics within the local and global context. What explains the survival and demise of long serving political parties like Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF, South Africa’s ANC & Botswana’s BDP among others. To this end, I write about the relationship between voter exit and party survival, social media and party survival, religion and party survival.

Papers under review and ongoing Research

  • “Joice Mujuru, Grace Mugabe, And ZANU PF’s Masculine Imperatives” with Wendy Urban-Mead Under Review at MERIDAS
  • “Using Qualitative Methods to Study Sensitive Topics and Populations in Migration” Under Review at SAGE PUBLICATIONS
  • “Living in Crisis: Zimbabwean Perceptions of Everyday Corruption” Under Review at Contemporary African Studies
  • When Do Governments Ban the Internet? African Studies Association (ASA), Chicago Illinois
  • The Politics of Religion in Africa’s Young Democracies, The North-Eastern Workshops on Southern Africa, Burlington Vermont
  • Tweeting to Democracy: A New Anti-Authoritarian Liberation Struggle in Africa, American Political Science Association, San Francisco, California
  • No Money No Democracy: The Impact of Money in African Elections, African Studies Association (ASA), Washington DC Under Review at African Affairs
  • The impact of migration on home politics: An analysis of the impact of Remittances on Democracy, American Political Science Association (APSA), Philadelphia
  • Voter Exit and Zimbabwe’s Democracy, North Eastern Workshop on Southern Africa (NEWSA), Burlington, Vermont
  • Political Migration is Economic Migration: Economic Migration is Political Migration, Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA), Chicago
  • Breaking down the causes of Voter Emigration, African Studies Association (ASA), San Diego
  • “Understanding Risk Attitudes and Political Participation in a high risk political context: Evidence from Zimbabwe”, North Eastern Workshop on Southern Africa (NEWSA), Burlington, Vermont
  • “It is too peaceful for it to be Election Day: When do incumbents use political violence and advocate for peace: Evidence from Zimbabwe” Midwest Political Science Association National Conference (MPSA), Chicago, IL
  • “Ordinary Citizens Voting under Extraordinary Times: Zimbabwe’s 2013 election” African Studies Association (ASA), Baltimore, MD
  • “Voter Choice in Africa in the post democratization Africa” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting (APSA), Seattle, WA
  • “How do Africans choose: Why is the rural voter sticking with the ruling party?” Midwest Political Science Conference (MPSA), Chicago, IL