About Us
The Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD) is a research program based at the University of Gothenburg, originally founded in 2013 at Yale University by Program Director, Professor Ellen Lust. GLD focuses on the local factors driving governance and development. The program is dedicated to international collaboration and scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant research in an effort to promote human welfare globally. Program findings are made available to the international and domestic communities through academic publications, policy briefs, public presentations, and social media, as well as on-the-ground workshops in cooperation with local partners.
Our Mission
“We aim to promote human welfare by conducting scientifically rigorous research across the globe. Our research focuses on answering a fundamental question: why are some communities able to provide secure environments, good education, adequate healthcare, and other factors that encourage human development, while others fail to do so? We engage with communities across the world, develop methodological tools, gather data, undertake analyses on major issues affecting societies today, and disseminate findings to academics, relevant policy-makers, and the communities in which we work.”
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June 2021: Job Openings, Annual Conference, Call for Working Papers, GLD in the Filed, Governance Uncovered, and more.
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May 2021: Podcast on Covid-19 in India's "Slums," GLD Working Papers, Opportunities, Events, and more.
April 2021: Governance Uncovered Special, New Working Papers, Events, Opportunities, and more.
March 2021: GLD's 2020 Annual Report, Podcast on Tunisia, Working Paper on Turkey's Democracy, and more.
February 2021: New Covid-19 Findings, New Grant, GLD Events, Opportunities, and more.
Latest Working Papers
Citizen Participation in Local Government Elections in the Age of Crowdsourcing: Explorations and Considerations in Tanzania
This study sought to explore crowdsourced monitoring of local government elections and the challenges hindering citizen participation in monitoring processes through digital tools. Nongovernmental election monitoring organizations have embraced technology and [...]
Women Leaders: Exploring the Effects of the Chief Executive Gender on Budget Composition in Comparative Perspective
Arguably, the single person with the most influence over any country’s policies is the chief executive, head of state, or head of government. Research has also consistently shown systematic gender differences in politicians’ priorities and behavior. Yet, few academic manuscripts connect these two lines of research; we [...]
Electoral Responsiveness in Closed Autocracies: Evidence from Petitions in the former German Democratic Republic
Contested elections are usually seen as preconditions for constituent responsiveness. This paper shows that even uncontested elections can create incentives for dictators to respond to and address citizen demands. I argue that autocratic governments engage in cycles of responsiveness [...]
Equity with Prejudice: International NGOs and Healthcare Delivery in Refugee Crises
Refugees often face prejudice in host countries. Does local resentment of refugees result in discrimination in access to social services? We explore the quality of care received by Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals in Lebanese health facilities using data from original surveys in a nationally representative sample of primary health centers [...]
Country Reports
LGPI Tunisia: Selected Findings on Health
Tunisia has a very good health-care system compared to most of the Arab world. The healthcare system includes primary-care clinics and health centers, which deal with nearly 60 percent of public-sector medical outpatients, reproductive-health visits, schools, and student-health visits [...]
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LGPI Malawi: Selected Findings on Gender
Malawi’s context raises a number of challenges that the government, traditional leaders, civil society, and the development community are working to address. One area of particular focus is gender equality and women’s empowerment. The LGPI supports this effort by providing [...]
