I am a Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. I am also the Gillian Peele Fellow in Politics at Lady Margaret Hall.
My research interests are broadly centred on the relationship between political institutions and public policy outcomes, in areas such as education, healthcare, and the environment. Within this, my current work focuses primarily on three broad themes:
- the provision of public goods and services,
- electoral accountability, and in particular how it is affected by policy attribution
- political violence and state capacity.
My research has been published in journals including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and World Politics. My book Rural Democracy: Elections and Development in Africa was published by Oxford University Press in 2020.
Publications
Journal Articles
2023
Harding, R. et al. (2023) “Buying a blind eye: campaign donations, regulatory enforcement, and deforestation”, American Political Science Review, 118(2), pp. 635–653.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055423000412
Harding, R. and Nwokolo, A. (2023) “Terrorism, trust, and identity: evidence from a natural experiment in Nigeria”, American Journal of Political Science, 68(3), pp. 942–957.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12769
2021
Harding, R. and Eggers, A. (2021) “Rallying in fear? Estimating the effectof the UK COVID-19 lockdown with a natural experiment”, European Journal of Political Research, 61(2), pp. 586–600.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12467
2020
Acharya, A., Harding, R. and Harris, J. (2020) “Security in the absence of a State: traditional authority, livestock trading, and maritime piracy in Somalia”, Journal of Theoretical Politics, 32(4), pp. 497–537.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0951629820941110
2019
Harding, R. and Michelitch, K. (2019) “Candidate coethnicity, rural/urban divides, and partisanship in Africa”, Party Politics, 27(4), pp. 791–802.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819893669
Harding, R. (2019) “Who is democracy good for? Elections, rural bias, and health and education outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa”, Journal of Politics, 82(1), pp. 241–254.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1086/705745
2015
Harding, R. (2015) “Attribution and accountability: voting for roads in Ghana”, World Politics, 67(04), pp. 656–689.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887115000209
2014
HARDING, R. and Stasavage, D. (2014) “What Democracy Does (and Doesn’t Do) for Basic Services: School Fees, School Inputs, and African Elections”, Journal of Politics, 76(1), pp. 229–245.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381613001254
2013
Blimpo, M., Harding, R. and Wantchekon, L. (2013) “Public Investment in Rural Infrastructure: Some Political Economy Considerations”, Journal of African Economies, 22(suppl_2), pp. ii57 - ii83.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejt015
2011
Harding, R. (2011) “FREEDOM TO CHOOSE AND DEMOCRACY: THE EMPIRICAL QUESTION”, Economics and Philosophy, 27(3), pp. 221–245.
Available at https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266267111000186
Books
2020
HARDING, R. (2020) Rural Democracy: Elections and Development in Africa. Oxford University Press.
preprint
Harding, R. et al. (no date) “Buying a Blind Eye: Campaign Donations, Regulatory Enforcement, and Deforestation in Colombia”, SocArXiv.
Available at https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/f3b2v
