Merze Tate was a prolific expert on US diplomacy and in 1932, the first African-American woman to attend Oxford (she commented several times she was “the only colored American in the entire university, man or woman”), where she studied International Relations. She was also the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in Government and International Relations from Harvard. In 1942 and 1948, she wrote two books on disarmament. Through her stints in several committees, Tate tried to tackle gender and racial discrimination in the academic system.

Armed conflict inflicts damage and suffering to people at many levels. Surprisingly, many analyses of this connection fail to take into account that consequences of conflict on human life go far beyond physical harm and that it also deprives people of basic human entitlements. These often include access to adequate shelter, water, sanitation, knowledge and good health. Naturally, there is a need to take a people-centred on armed conflict in order to arrive at a better understanding of its relationship with peoples livelihoods.

Recognizing that poor governance hinders human and economic development, a growing literature studies accountability of politicians to voters. This talk instead considers accountability relationships within governments—the ability of politicians to implement policies by holding bureaucrats responsible for their actions, and the implications for (i) electoral accountability and (ii) service provision. The first part of the talk introduces a new explanation for why citizens may fail to vote based on government performance.