CODESRIA: Research Workshop

CODESRIA
Research Workshop
Theme: Political Participation in Africa
Date: 6-27 July 2008
Venue: Dakar, Senegal

Call for Applications

The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) are pleased to announce the holding of a workshop onPolitical Participation in Africa. The workshop will be held on 6-27 July 2008 at the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, Senegal. The organizers will cover all the costs of participation (travel, lodging, meals, stipend) of the 20-25 applicants who will be selected to join this three-week workshop. The working language is French though some English materials may be used.

The workshop leaders are Profs. Leonard Wantchekon (New York University, Department of Politics, USA), Augustin Loada (Faculté de Droit et de Science Politique de l'Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), Alioune Badara Diop (Unité d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Sciences Juridiques et Politiques de l'Université Gaston Berger, St.-Louis, Senegal), and Catherine Boone (University of Texas at Austin, Department of Political Science, USA). Participants The seminar is targeted at young university faculty in the social sciences, and doctoral-level graduate students who hope to go into teaching positions in African universities. All Fellows should be engaged actively in an empirical research project in politics, political sociology, political anthropology, public law, development studies, or a related area. Fellows should be working on a dissertation chapter, conference paper, book chapter, or article that can be developed into an article-length publication. As workshop participants, the Fellows will present their on-going research projects to the group in order to fuel discussion and generate new ideas for framing and developing their future research projects.

Themes Political participation is broadly defined as a set of activities undertaken by citizens to affect the making of governments as well as public policies. It includes turnout and voting in elections, lobbying, joining political parties and unions, petitioning, and participating in street demonstrations. A good understanding of patterns of political participation is central to the study of democracy and governance in Africa.

We are looking for Workshop Fellows who are interested in a range of issues linked to political participation, including the dynamics of voting and elections, the organization and workings of political parties, and the effect of political participation on substantive policy outcomes (eg. health and education policies, land law, economic and fiscal policies). We are especially interested in
1. Regional and urban-rural differences in political participation: what explains differences in political dynamics, including in turnout and voting, across regions and types of elections?
2. Economic interests, ethnic/religious identities and political participation: how do economic conditions and membership in ethnic and religious groups affect civic engagement?
3. Institutions and political participation: how do state structure and electoral rules affect electoral mobilization and voting?
4. Political participation and democratic governance: does increased citizen involvement improve the ability of governments to provide public goods, or change clientelist practices?

The workshop will devote systematic attention to issues of research design and strategies of data-gathering. Over the course of the workshop, each Fellow will present a piece of original scholarship to the group. This can be a research paper, conference paper, dissertation chapter, or other piece of written work that is approximately 20-30 pages in length. The format will include break-out groups centered on particular themes, and time for participants to revise and develop their research papers. One goal of the workshop is to get a critical mass of publishable papers that can be collected into an edited volume on Political Participation in Africa. Applications Applications will be accepted in French. Applications should include:
1. A Letter of Application that clearly states the applicant's institutional affiliation, position and all relevant contact information for the
2. A detailed, recent CV of the applicant
3. a 500-word description of the applicant's current research interests, how these relate to the theme of political participation, the empirical focus of the applicant's research, and the current status of the applicant's research project.
4. a 10-15 page written document that is part of the applicant's on-going research project. This can be a work-in-progress that is part of a paper, article, or chapter. The written text should tell the reader about the empirical as well as the theoretical/conceptual interests of the author.
5. two letters of reference. If the applicant is a graduate student, one letter should be a letter of introduction from the applicant's supervising professor. Applications for participation in the workshop as a Fellow should be sent to CODESRIA, by postal service or by 20 May, 2008. The list of participants will be announced on 29 May, 2008. All queries and applications will be sent to the following address:

Workshop on Political Participation
CODESRIA P.O. Box. 3305,
CP 18524 Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop X Canal 4
Dakar, Senegal
Tel.: +221 33 825 98 22/23
Fax.: +221 33 824 12 89
Email: [email][email protected]
Website: http://www.codesria.org or http://www.apsanet.org/africaworkshops