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Michael Bratton

Board member
Michael is a co-founder and board member at Afrobarometer

Biography

Michael Bratton, who retired as University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies at Michigan State University in 2018, has worked with Afrobarometer since 1999 as a co-founder, former executive director, and then senior adviser. He previously served on the program staffs of the Rockefeller and Ford foundations and as a visiting scholar at Oxford University, Uppsala University, and the United States Institute of Peace. He is the co-author of the widely cited Democratic Experiments in Africa (Cambridge, 1995) and the author of five other books, including Voting and Democratic Citizenship in Africa (Rienner, 2013) and Power Politics in Zimbabwe (Rienner, 2014).

Areas of interest

Language
Countries

Publications

External publication
Why public opinion should be used to measure political risk in Africa
13 Jul 2015
External publication
Zambians firmly defend democracy. But will they stand up against Lungu?
23 Jul 2017
Policy paper
PP58: Les Africains désirent des élections transparentes – surtout celles porteuses d’alternance
26 Jun 2019
Policy paper
PP58: Africans want open elections – especially if they bring change
26 Jun 2019
Dispatch
AD290: Meilleure mais perfectible? Comment les Africains perçoivent-ils la prestation des services publics
2 Apr 2019
Dispatch
AD290: Better but not good enough? How Africans see the delivery of public services
2 Apr 2019
Policy paper
PP49: Heal the beloved country: Zimbabwe’s polarized electorate
11 Sep 2018
Dispatch
AD223: Zimbabwe’s presidential race tightens one month ahead of July 30 voting
20 Jul 2018
Policy paper
PP47: Public attitudes toward Zimbabwe’s 2018 elections: Downbeat yet hopeful?
28 Jun 2018
Working paper
WP5: Democratic and market reforms in Africa: What ‘the people’ say
3 Apr 2000
Dispatch
AD157: Zambia at a crossroads: Will citizens defend democracy?
19 Jul 2017
Policy paper
PP36: Les Africains veulent-ils encore de la démocratie?
22 Nov 2016
Policy paper
PP36: Do Africans still want democracy?
22 Nov 2016
Dispatch
AD112: Des institutions dignes de confiance impactent-elles le développement en Afrique?
23 Aug 2016
Dispatch
AD112: Do trustworthy institutions matter for development? Corruption, trust, and government performance in Africa
23 Aug 2016
Briefing paper
BP113: La crise au Mali : attitudes populaires ambivalentes sur la voie à suivre
2 Feb 2013
Policy paper
PP26: The viability of political opposition in Africa: Popular views
27 Aug 2015
Working paper
WP10: Political economic values and economic reform in Southern Africa
15 Aug 2001
Working paper
WP157: Political risks facing African democracies: Evidence from Afrobarometer
4 Aug 2015
Briefing paper
BP113: Crisis in Mali: Ambivalent popular attitudes on the way forward
2 Feb 2013
Working paper
WP127: Voting intentions in Africa: Ethnic, economic or partisan?
2 Jan 2011
Working paper
WP122: Anchoring the “D-Word” in Africa
1 Oct 2010
Working paper
WP119: Citizen perceptions of local government responsiveness in sub-Saharan Africa
1 May 2010
Working paper
WP105: Rationality, cosmopolitanism, and adjustment fatigue: Public attitudes to economic reform in Zambia
1 Apr 2009
Working paper
WP104: Do free elections foster capable governments? The democracy-governance connection in Africa
3 Oct 2008
Working paper
WP99: Vote buying and violence in Nigerian election campaigns
1 Jun 2008
Working paper
WP95: Voting in Kenya: Putting ethnicity in perspective
1 Mar 2008
Working paper
WP65: Are you being served? Popular satisfaction with health and education services in Africa
1 Jan 2007
Working paper
WP63: Voters but not yet citizens: The weak demand for vertical acountability in Africa’s unclaimed democracies
1 Sep 2006
Working paper
WP62: Delivery of responsiveness? A popular scorecard of local government performance in South Africa
1 Aug 2006
Working paper
WP60: Where is Africa going? Views from below: A compendium of trends in public opinion in 12 African countries, 1999-2006
1 May 2006
Working paper
WP59: Popular reactions to state repression: Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe
1 Apr 2006
Working paper
WP58: The political gender gap in Africa: similar attitudes, different behaviors
1 Mar 2006
Working paper
WP56: Poor people and democratic citizenship in Africa
1 Jan 2006
Policy paper
PP9: L’état d’esprit des Maliens reflète un regain d’espérance
30 Mar 2014
Policy paper
PP9: Mali’s public mood reflects newfound hope
30 Mar 2014
Policy paper
PP11: La demande de démocratie augmente en Afrique, mais la plupart des dirigeants politiques ne répondent pas aux attente
23 Apr 2014
Policy paper
PP11: Demand for democracy is rising in Africa, but most political leaders fail to deliver
23 Apr 2014
Policy paper
PP13: Les Maliens veulent un pays uni et que justice soit faite au lendemain du conflit
3 May 2014
Policy paper
PP13: Malians want a united country, post-conflict justice
2 May 2014
Working paper
WP49: Electoral institutions, partisan status, and political support: A natural experiment from Lesotho
1 Jun 2005
Working paper
WP48: The durability of political goods? Evidence from Nigeria’s new democracy
2 Apr 2005
Working paper
WP43: State building and democratization in sub-Saharan Africa: Forwards, backwards, or together?
1 Sep 2004
Working paper
WP42: The power of propaganda: Public opinion in Zimbabwe, 2004
1 Aug 2004
Working paper
WP34: Afrobarometer Round 2: Compendium of results from a 15-country survey
3 Mar 2004
Working paper
WP31: Learning about democracy in Africa: Awareness, performance, and experience
2 Oct 2003
Working paper
WP27: Insiders and outsiders: Varying perceptions of democracy and governance in Uganda
4 Mar 2003
Working paper
WP23: Poverty, survival and democracy in Southern Africa – 2003
1 Jan 2003
Working paper
WP20: Down to earth: Changes in attitudes toward democracy and markets in Nigeria
2 Aug 2002
Working paper
WP19: Wide but shallow: Popular support for democracy in Africa
1 Aug 2002
Working paper
WP18: Uncritical citizens or patient trustees? Tanzanians’ views of political and economic reform
1 Mar 2002
Working paper
WP9: Popular perceptions of good governance in Mali
2 Aug 2000
Working paper
WP7: Public opinion and the consolidation of democracy in Southern Africa
5 Apr 2000
Working paper
WP6: Uganda’s Referendum 2000: The silent boycott
4 Apr 2000
Working paper
WP4: Democracy and economy in Uganda: A public opinion perspective
2 Apr 2000
Working paper
WP3: Attitudes to democracy and markets in Nigeria
1 Apr 2000
Working paper
WP2: Attitudes to democracy and markets in Ghana
1 Oct 1999
Working paper
WP1: Support for democracy in Africa: Intrinsic or instrumental?
1 Sep 1999
Book
Public Opinion, Democracy, and Market Reform in Africa
20 Sep 2004
Book
Voting and Democratic Citizenship in Africa
1 Jan 2013
Dispatch
AD1: Malawi’s 2014 Elections: Amid concerns about fairness, outcome is too close to call
1 Jun 2014