This paper revisits models of economic voting to argue that when alternative sources of information about incumbent competence (merit) are not available, it may be rational for citizens to cast an economic vote even if the economy is mostly determined by exogenous factors (luck). This vote, however, is unlikely to promote democratic accountability.

We are pleased to announce the first DPhil Politics/IR graduate seminar. The seminar provides, DPhil Politics/ IR students across all years at Oxford, an opportunity to discuss their research with their peers and invited faculty members. The workshop is supported by the DPIR, and is organized by students in cooperation with Ben Ansell and David Rueda.

Policy is about trade-offs, more so in the realm of external affairs. This is especially true for weaker and smaller states faced with material inducement from big power, as their inherent limitations and vulnerabilities mean that they are more exposed to the mixed effects of power-centred inducement than stronger states.

Laura Silvia Battaglia, foreign correspondent and documentary maker
22 Nov: ‘Reporting from Yemen and other inaccessible war zones: risk and how to find out if you're in trouble’

Reuters Institute seminars “The business and practice of journalism”
The following seminars will be given at 2pm on Wednesdays, Green Templeton College.
Convenors: Meera Selva

Drawing on ethnographic data gathered in Pathein, Myanmar, the paper investigates the moral underpinnings of responsibilities and hierarchies in small businesses, specifically the question of what makes a good employer. It will show how responsibilities beyond the mere paying of wages do not overcome the socio-economic gap between workers and employers, and that essentially, the shop floor remains an arena of control and inequality. The main case study is a tea shop, where a large part of the workforce is underage.

Elsa-Marie D’Silva, founder and CEO of Mumbai’s Red Dot Foundation (Safecity) platform, discusses how data on women's experiences of sexual harassment and abuse can highlight hotspots and influence policy. Safecity is now the largest crowd map of sexual abuse in India, Kenya, Cameroon and Nepal. Elsa-Marie, who is a visiting fellow on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's GURUKUL Programme, explains how this information is used to raise awareness and to help find solutions.