Erin Hern
Assistant Professor, Political Science
Degree
Ph.D., Cornell University, 2015
Specialties
Comparative politics, African politics, political participation, women and gender
Personal Website
http://www.erinhern.com/
Courses
PSC 123 - Introduction to Comparative Politics
PSC 351 - Political Economy of Development
PSC 400: Field Research Methods
PSC 700: Politics of Africa
Publications
Forthcoming.
“Infrastructure
and Understandings of Democracy in Zambia: Democracy Off the Rails.” African
Affairs.
Forthcoming. “Party Politics and Christianity in Zambia’s
Third Republic,” in M. Hinfelaar and C. Kaunda, Eds. Religion and Politics
in Post-Colonial Zambia. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress. With Elizabeth Sperber.
2020. “Colonial Education
and Women’s Political Behavior in Ghana and Senegal,” African Studies
Review. DOI: 10.1017/asr.2020.12.
2020.
“Preferences without Platforms: How Voters make Choices in Zambia’s Elections,”
in Banda, Tinenengi, O’Brien Kaaba, Marja Hinfelaar, and Muna Ndulo, Eds. Democracy
and Electoral Politics in Zambia. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Publishers.
2019. Developing
States, Shaping Citizenship: Service Delivery and Political Behavior in Zambia.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
2018. “Taking to the Streets: Protest Behavior in sub-Saharan
Africa.” Comparative Political Studies. With Adam Harris. DOI: 10.1177/0010414018806540
2018. “Pentecostal
Identity & Citizen Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Evidence from
Zambia.” Politics and Religion. With
Elizabeth Sperber. DOI: 10.1017/S1755048318000330
2018. “Gender and Participation in
Africa’s Electoral Regimes: An Analysis of Variation in the Gender Gap.” Politics, Groups, and Identities. DOI: 10.1080/21565503.2018.1458323
2017. “The Trouble with Institutions:
How Women’s Policy Machineries Can Undermine Women’s Mass Participation.” Politics & Gender 13(3): 405-431.
2017. “Better than Nothing: How
Policies Influence Political Participation in Low-Capacity Democracies.” Governance 30(4): 583-600.
2017. “In the Gap the State
Left: Policy Feedback, Collective Behavior, and Political Particpation in
Zambia.” Studies in Comparative International Development 52(4): 510-531
Research Projects
Lessons in Success: How Africa's High Performers Achieved Positive Outcomes under Adverse Circumstances
Scholarship on Africa tends to focus on challenge: most political and economic works examine barriers to achieving desired outcomes like political stability, good governance, and economic growth. While these challenges are real and important to consider, it is also essential to understand success. Scholars often treat African countries that perform well as outliers; they are “miracles” or “darlings” rather than countries that have made good choices in the face of adverse circumstances. Treating these countries as outliers diminishes the possibility of extracting lessons or best practices—if a country’s economic performance is a “miracle,” there is no lesson to be had. If its stable government is a function of exceptionalism, then there is no possibility of replication. This project seeks to normalize success in African countries by analyzing those that have performed particularly well in five essential categories: economy, governance, gender equality, public service delivery, and infrastructure development.